Fantasy
by ILUVRONWEASLEY
Summary: COMPLETE! Love is the only power that can overcome Lord Voldemort's reign of terror, but unfortunately, it has to come from the most unlikely pair. DMHG. Read and review please!
1. And so it begins

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY ME.**

_Author Note:_ Yes! It is I! Again! Teehee, I decided to edit this once more because it really wasn't up to scratch and I wasn't that satisfied with it at all! This time though, I've edited out all the plot holes (or most of them at least) and actually re-written some of it, although the plot is still exactly the same! I've also decided to get rid of my Thanks - I just hope everyone knows how much I appreciate the reviews! All my reviewers have not only given me advice and tips, but also support, and for that I shall be forever grateful.

But now, on with this! I hope you enjoy reading this fanfic, and please feel free to leave a review if you haven't already!

**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing. Thank you for your attention. _

* * *

Chapter One: And so it begins.

It was the beginning of Hermione Granger's seventh year at Hogwarts and everyone knew that 'It' was coming. The usual beginning-of-school laughter had died and although Hogwarts was safe from His clutches for now, there was no doubt that He would soon be paying a visit and the long-awaited war would begin.

Harry and Ron had not been contacting her as much over the summer holidays. She had not got an invitation to the Burrow (as she normally would have), and they seemed to be avoiding her.

'_It's only been a week since we've all been back at Hogwarts,_' she thought, as she pretended to read _Hogwarts: a history. 'Maybe they've just been busy over the holidays . . .'_

_'Yeah. Maybe. But maybe they just don't like you anymore. After all, who would want to hang around with a Know-It-All bookworm?'_

Hermione shook her head vigorously, trying to block out her thoughts. She got up and decided to go on a walk by the lake (making sure she grabbed some crackers for the squid before setting off). It didn't take her long to reach Hogwarts' Black Lake. As she neared, she could see that someone else was already there.

"Stupid McGonagall."

Draco Malfoy muttered darkly as he grabbed another dead rat and threw it into the lake. A giant tentacle could be seen reaching out to grab it.

"Making me do detention out here in the freezing cold at (he raised his voice so that it was high-pitched) _precisely 7:56pm, or else Mr. Malfoy!_"

And all this because he had accidentally on purpose transfigured Pansy's nose into a button because she was annoying him so much. In fact, Draco thought it was an improvement. He threw another dead rat into the lake, huffily sitting down on the damp grass.

"I see someone's in a bad mood."

He turned swiftly around and saw (to his disappointment) that it was only the mudblood that he oh-so dearly despised. Hermione gave him an evil smile, stepping closer towards him.

"What do you want?" Draco sneered. Hermione froze, holding her nose in disgust as she stood beside him.

"What do you want, mudblood?" He repeated. Still, she didn't reply. "Am I so devilishly handsome that I make even a mudblood like you speechless?"

At this, Hermione immediately spoke.

"For your information, I was just looking at that tub of dead rats that seems to be decaying!" she said indignantly. She tried to make herself look bigger than Draco and she failed miserably. He smirked.

"Got you talking didn't it, Granger?" She scowled at him with all her might. "What are you doing out here anyway, mudblood?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Malfoy."

"As a matter of fact, I'm out here serving McGonagall's detention." He smirked again as he saw the look of confusion on Hermione's face.

"That doesn't explain the rats, Malfoy," Hermione frowned, looking at the bucket and stepping away from it. "For all I know, you could be brewing some illegal potions with them or something. Or, even, poisoning the squid!"

Draco rolled his eyes. For a mudblood who had gotten the top grades in the entire year, she was pretty dense sometimes. Draco's best subject was Potions (of course), and he knew that no potion contained the ingredient: Dead Rats.

"McGonagall told me my punishment was to sit out here in the freakin' cold, tossing dead rats at the squid for him to eat." As Draco finished his sentence, he felt disgusted with himself. He was actually having a conversation _with a_ _mudblood_. And it wasn't just any mudblood, it was mudblood Granger - Potty and Weasels little sidekick, which made it a hundred times worse.

'_What would father say to this?'_ He thought.

"Oh. Well . . ." Hermione sighed, giving the tub of dead rats another disapproving look. She sat down on the damp grass about eleven feet away from Draco. _'Better sit away from him. Just to be safe.'_ She thought.

"What do you think you're doing, you filthy little mudblood?"

She glared at him. She had thought for a moment that he was going to be he ever stop insulting her, just for one minute?

"What does it look like, Malfoy?" She said as she threw a few crackers into the lake. A splashing sound could be heard as a tentacle broke the surface of the water, grabbing the crackers eagerly. "I'm sitting down! Or do you need glasses?"

"I can see that you're sitting down, Granger! What do you think I am, blind?" He stood up angrily, "I'm asking why you're sitting so close to me? Practically NEXT to my precious body!"

"I'm not sitting next to your 'precious body'!" she screamed, "Look at the distance between us! I made sure I'd do anything _but_ go near you!"

He eyed her suspiciously for a second, before saying, in a surprisingly calm voice, "Sheesh Granger, keep your hair on. Actually, don't, you'll look better without it, and anyway, you're still too close to me. You should at least be sitting over there, by that tree or something."

He pointed towards her left. She looked and turned back to glare at Draco once again.

"That's the Whomping Willow! If I sat next to that, I'd get thrashed to the ground and beaten the hell out of!"

He smirked at her. His eyes looked like they were twinkling in the sunset, but it was an almost evil kind of twinkle, much different from the twinkle in Professor Dumbledore's eyes. "That's the point, Granger."

They continued to bicker for at least half an hour, once in a while throwing the odd dead rat or cracker into the lake, until the bucket was empty and the packet (that used to be full of crackers) contained only a few crumbs. They shouted, and glared at one another, fists clenched and teeth gritted, all the while unaware that somebody was watching them from afar . . .

* * *

"So, are they talking, Albus?" She asked him nervously. 

"Why yes, Minerva. It is working perfectly." He replied, his eyes glinting mysteriously in the moonlight.

"Excuse me, Professor, may we leave now?"

The Headmaster looked up. He had almost forgotten that they were still waiting there.

"Of course, but do remember what I have said Mr Potter, Mr Weasley," He said as he surveyed them through his half moon spectacles. "If they find out, then we are sure to lose everything. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor."

Minerva McGonagall waited until the two young men exited the room. She turned to her old friend, Albus Dumbledore.

"Albus, do you mind me asking-

"I know what you are questioning, Minerva. I know Miss Granger was going down to the lake at this precise time because she is very predictable, almost too predictable for her own good." The Headmaster of Hogwarts peered around the curtain once again, staring at the bickering seventeen-year-olds standing by the Black Lake.

"But, Albus," Professor McGonagall began, "It is highly unlikely that Miss Granger, and Mr Malfoy, would do as you presume and I doubt Miss Granger is feeling at all happy about the fact that her two best friends are ignoring her."

"Yes, Minerva," He continued to stare out of the window, "But it is for the best. We need help for what is coming, and you can't deny what is heading our way. Even the students can sense the tension."

"Yes, but," she gestured towards the window, "Your prediction is more than likely to fail and your plan as well. It is easy to see that they have no feelings towards each other."

"They don't now, but they soon will, if all goes according to plan."

Professor McGonagall raised one eyebrow and thinned her lips. She would normally trust Dumbledore, for he was a wise man, but his plan _this _time seemed too strange, too unlikely - impossible even. But if the plan didn't succeed then their advantage against the darkness would be lost, and she knew well that they had no other plan to fall back on.

* * *

**Edited Version:_25th July 2005_**


	2. The Bloated Squid

**FANTASY. BY THE PERSON WHO WROTE THE OTHERS.**

**Disclaimer: **_I own absolutely nothing. Please don't sue me, and enjoy the fanfic!_

* * *

Chapter Two: The Bloated Squid

Hermione lay tossing and turning in her bed. She could not sleep at all. Her mind was filled with negative thoughts about her two best friends. When she had entered the common room, Harry and Ron had obviously been talking, but they had stopped the moment they had noticed her. It was obvious that they have been talking about her.

She sighed and closed her eyes, hoping that morning would come soon. She needed to busy herself – to keep her from her own paranoia.

* * *

"You know, I went to the lake this morning and I couldn't see the squid anywhere!" 

"Couldn't you? I wonder what happened to it? You don't think . . ."

"No, he couldn't of. Could he? I mean what could he do with a giant squid that's practically tame?"

Hermione listened to the two first-years' conversation. It was either that or sitting by herself and doing nothing but wait for her lessons to start. She looked at her watch and decided to finally start waiting in the classroom. Besides, the conversation between the two first-years was beginning to get dull.

It was a Monday, which meant double potions with the Slytherins (as usual). She went to the dungeons and prepared herself for the lesson to begin. It didn't take long for the other students to arrive – in fact, the last person to enter the room was the Potions Master himself.

"Now can anyone tell me what is needed to make a Healing Potion into a Death Potion?" Professor Snape drawled, diving straight into the day's topic as he walked briskly to the front of the classroom. He glared at all the Gryffindor students. His eyes landed on Harry. "Perhaps, Mr Potter, has an answer for me?"

As Harry was about to answer, he was saved from the trouble by the voice of a small boy. Hermione recognised him as one of the first-years she had been eavesdropping on earlier that day.

"Yes?" Snape snapped, glaring at theboy that had dared to interrupt his lesson.

"Erm - I'm – I'm sorry, Sir – but – but I – I – I have a message - from – from Professor Dumbledore," said the first-year (a Gryffindor). Hestared intently at the dungeon floor, his entire body shaking.

"Well?" Snape asked, his voice echoing around the silent dungeon, "What is it then? We haven't got all day!"

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to see Miss Hermione Granger and Mr Draco Malfoy in his office immediately." The young boy gabbled, his ears turning bright red. Snape turned to Hermione, then to Draco, waving a hand towards the door, gesturing for them to leave. Hermione got up cautiously, as did Draco.

"Oh, and before you two leave," Snape stared at the boy by the door, "Ten points from Gryffindor for disrupting my class."

As soon as Hermione and Draco left the room and the dungeon door was firmly closed behind them, the boy let out a sigh of relief.

"Sheesh, I only came because of Professor Dumbledore and he still takes points off me." The boy grumbled as he began to walk up the stairs, closely followed by Hermione and Draco. Suddenly he stopped and turned to face the two seventh-years, causing them both to stumble, and nearly fall. He stretched a hand out towards them.

"Hello, I believe we haven't met properly."

He smiled at them and began ascending the stairs once again after Hermione and Draco had shook his hand.

"My name's Conner Flewington. My brother should be in your year, but he's a Slytherin." He glanced at Hermione and saw the look on her face. "But don't worry, he's a _nice_ Slytherin. Father made him promise not to do anything that would help You-Know-Who." Conner paused at the top of the stairs and waited until Hermione and Draco had reached the main floor. "Anyway, I'll leave you here. I expect you know how to get to Dumbledore's office. His password is 'Rumplestiltskein'!"

Conner turned and walked through a door leading to the Charms classroom, leaving Hermione alone with Draco. They walked silently along the corridor until they came to the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office, where they both said the password simultaneously. The door was already open when they arrived at the top of the stairs.

"You asked to see us, Professor?" Hermione asked politely, peering around the door to find Dumbledore sitting calmly at his desk.

"Yes, Miss Granger, indeed I did." He gestured towards the loveseat in front of his desk. "Do sit down - the both of you."

Hermione and Draco obeyed reluctantly, both sitting as far away from each other as they possibly could.

"Well, I guess you're wondering why I have called you two here today?" He paused, "And don't worry Miss Granger, you aren't in trouble. Nothing too serious at least."

"What did I do, Professor?" Hermione asked worriedly. In her opinion, she had done nothing wrong.

"Don't worry, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said calmly, "You, alone, did nothing wrong."

"Are you blaming this on me?"

Hermione jumped. Draco had not spoken since they had left the Potions classroom, and his sudden interruption was a shock to her. She was surprised to see that Dumbledore was not the slightest bit angry at his rudeness.

"No, Mr Malfoy, I am not blaming anything on anyone."

"Then why the hell are we here?" Draco leant forward in his seat and stared at Dumbledore, his cold grey eyes meeting Dumbledore's warm blue ones.

"Mr Malfoy, I believe that you were serving your detention yesterday at 7:56pm precisely, when Miss Granger appeared?"

Draco nodded, sitting back in his seat again.

"Well, do you remember how many rats you were supposed to give to the Giant Squid?"

Silence.

"Eleven, I think." Draco finally answered.

"And do you know how many you actually threw in, Mr Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Draco looked away from Dumbledore. "The whole bucket."

"Correct, Mr Malfoy and there were at least twenty-five rats in that bucket. Of course, Miss Granger's crackers also added to the squid's . . . feast. By now, being the talented students that you are, you should have realised what I called you here for. Madam Pomfrey has just found what is wrong with the squid and it seems that he has an extremely bloated stomach." Dumbledore paused to see the two students' reactions. Hermione appeared to be deeply ashamed, whereas Draco, appeared to be deeply amused.

"We're so sorry, Professor," Hermione began, "I didn't realize that it could get a bloated stomach and I hope it does get better. I know it goes a long way back - it said so in _Hogwarts: A History_."

Draco rolled his eyes. Trust Granger to mention books at a time like this.

"So . . . what are you going to do to us?" Draco asked suspiciously. Dumbledore couldn't have just wanted to tell them that the squid had a bloated stomach. There had to be some kind of punishment.

Dumbledore couldn't hide the smile that crept across his lips. "Do you happen to know _why_ you two were throwing food into the lake without counting?"

"Because . . . we were arguing . . ." Hermione mumbled.

"Exactly," Dumbledore smiled, giving her an approving nod. "And that, is what we must improve on."

"So, what you're saying is that our punishment is . . . to be friends?" Draco raised an eyebrow and laughed in disbelief. "Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I refuse to even _try _and make friends with . . . this . . . thing!"

"Well, Mr Malfoy, seeing as you two are not . . . able . . . to be friends willingly, I'm afraid I shall have to force you."

Hermione and Draco sat, staring at Dumbledore with wide eyes that showed exactly how they felt. Petrified.

"And how do you propose to do that?" Draco hissed. His voice was very quiet, barely louder than a whisper.

"I have arranged for you two to meet a few members of staff - one at a time of course - to give you a task to complete together," Dumbledore replied calmly, stressing the word 'together'. "It will be like . . . detention, except much more fun, I assure you. These events will happen every Monday – including today of course - and every Thursday after lessons end at four thirty. You shall meet your member of staff at the library, is that clear?"

It took a while before Dumbledore's words sunk in properly. Hermione gulped as she replied, "Crystal clear."

* * *

**Edited Version: _25th July 2005_**


	3. The start of Torture and Suspicion

**FANTASY. BY ILUVRONWEASLEY**

**Disclaimer: **_I own absolutely nothing mentioned in this piece of fanfiction – this excludes the plot._

* * *

Chapter Three: The start of Torture and Suspicion.

"This is all your fault, mudblood." Draco muttered as he and Hermione left Dumbledore's office and made their way down the stairs.

"How is this all _my_ fault, Malfoy? You have something in this as well you know!"

"If it wasn't for you taking a bloody walk at that time, then I wouldn't have thrown all the rats in the lake and the squid wouldn't be bloated right now!"

"You can't blame everything on me, Malfoy! It's not like you're perfect!" There was silence as Hermione jumped the last few steps. For a while, she thought that she had shut him up. But, alas, she was wrong.

"I'm more perfect than you'll ever be, mudblood." He mumbled. Although it was only a mumble, she heard it quite clearly. Abruptly, she stopped walking.

"And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?"

Draco laughed cruelly. "Well, let's see." He paused. "I'm young, good at mostly everything I do, rich, handsome as well, and brilliantly charming." He paused again. "And, what are you? Sure, you have good grades, but you are not rich, handsome or even able to fly, let alone play quidditch. So what does that make you? Hmm, let me think. A ugly, filthy, disgusting, little mudblood."

Hermione glared at Draco and used all her strength to keep her tears inside. She knew she wasn't perfect, but nobody was. Normally, she would strike back at Draco, saying that at least she had true friends who cared about her, whereas he merely had brainless cronies that followed him wherever he went. But, she couldn't say that now – after all, she wasn't even sure that she had any friends anymore.

She clenched her fists, ready to wipe the smirk off Draco's face.

"Hermione?"

She spun around to find Ron and Harry, and the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins heading towards her and Draco.

'_I guess we must have been in Dumbledore's office longer than I thought,'_ She thought, as Ron gazed down at her (he was a good four inches taller than her and still growing).

"What's the matter?" Ron asked, frowning. If hethought that Draco had done anything to her, he would kill him for sure. Hermione smiled weakly. She didn't see the point in telling them what Draco had said.

"I'm fine, Ron, thanks for asking."

Ron and Harry gave her a small smile and a nod. "Well, we'll be seeing you then, Hermione."

The two boys steadily walked away from her, muttering something under their breath as they went.

"Father would never let me be near a mudblood," Draco muttered to himself, leaving Hermione to stare longingly after her two best friends as he headed towards the owlery. "I'll just write a letter to him. He'll get me out of this."

When he arrived at the owlery, he hurriedly summoned a piece of parchment and quill from thin air, and wrote:

'_Dear Father,_

_Dumbledore has given me detentions (he says they shall be 'fun') for me accidentally making a giant squid bloated (it deserved it anyway). He said the detentions would only stop when the mudblood Granger andI can become friends. You know as much as I do, father, that this will never happen. Please speak to Dumbledore and persuade him to cancel. It is only a waste of my precious time and it will get my robes dirty by letting the mudblood near me._

_Your only son,_

_Draco.'_

He tied the letter to his black-feathered owl and it soon took flight. Draco smiled to himself, sure that his father would get him out of his disgusting punishment. He left the owlery and began making his way to the Great Hall for lunch.

* * *

Hermione stuffed the food down her throat. She didn't feel like eating but she remembered that she had not eaten much for breakfast, and she needed the energy. After that little question Ron had asked a while ago, Harry and Ron were once again ignoring her. The funny thing was, they didn't ignore her in a way that made her feel as though they _hated_ her, they ignored her in a way that made her feel as though someone was ordering them to. Although she was sure that idea was ridiculous. Who would order her two best friends to ignore her? 

The thought made her rather confused, and it didn't help matters when she thought of what was awaiting her at four thirty that afternoon. She wasn't looking forward to her 'detention' with Draco, and she knew that he probably wasn't either. As this thought ran through her mind, Draco Malfoy entered the Great Hall, looking as smug as ever - his trademark smirk in place.

Hermione swallowed her mouthful, picked up her book bag and decided to wait in the Charms classroom. _'At least Charms' is with the Ravenclaws and not the Slytherins.'_ She thought. Two teachers watched as Hermione left the Great Hall.

They began to talk quietly amongst themselves.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, Severus, you will see."

"But Albus, it seems…how can I say it - _Impossible_."

"Yes, I know, Severus, that is what everyone says."

"And you're sure that if your plan works, we will have an advantage?"

"Yes, I'm almost certain of it. The hard part is keeping it from Lord Voldemort."

"And I thought the hard part was actually getting them two together . . ." Snape muttered. Dumbledore chuckled with amusement.

"Well, yes, I guess that as well. But you don't realise, Severus, that they already have feelings for each other."

"Feelings of hatred, yes . . ."

Dumbledore chuckled again. "Indeed. But, Severus, do not forget - it is a thin line between love, and hate."

* * *

"My Lord." 

"Yes, Lucius? What is it?"

"My son has sent me a letter from Hogwarts today, My Lord. It seems . . .strange."

"So? Get to the point, Lucius, I have no time to deal with matters that aren't important."

"It seems that Dumbledore has set something up for him and a certain mudblood. It seems a little suspicious, My Lord. I think he may be up to something he doesn't want us to know about."

"Hand me the letter."

His snake-like eyes scanned the parchment.

"Very good, Lucius." The Dark Lord hissed. "It seems that the old fool is up to something again. You shall be rewarded most handsomely. Now leave, I shall take care of things from here. You, meanwhile, shall take care of your son. I expect you know what to do."

Lucius Malfoy bowed down to the man in front of him. "Yes, My Lord."

* * *

_(For those who are wondering how Lucius is with the Dark Lord again, let's say that Lucius was released from Azkaban by Fudge because he managed to convince Fudge that he was innocent. I would also like to note that as I can find barely anything on the four founders, I have had to make most things up for that. Please keep this in mind, as this little bit of information will be needed in order to understand Chapter Four.) _

**Edited Version: _28th July 2005_**


	4. The First Detention

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-OBSESSED-WITH-RON.**

**Disclaimer: **_Characters and places (Hogwarts) are not mine. Please do not sue._

* * *

Chapter Four: The First Detention.

"No."

Draco read the letter again in disbelief. How could his father do this to him?

"No . . ." He mumbled again. He had just left his Astronomy class, when an owl had swooped through the window and landed on his shoulder. He had recognised the black-feathered owl almost immediately.

"What's the matter, Dwakie-poo?"

Draco winced slightly as he heard the voice of Pansy Parkinson, possibly the most annoying girl in the history of Hogwarts. He calmly carried on walking as quickly as he could and replied, "None of your business, Parkinson."

"Of course it's my business, Drakie! If it's _your_ business, then it's mine!"

Draco rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath. He continued to walk to his Herbology lesson, ignoring Pansy's complaints as she failed to catch up with him. He finally stopped in front of Greenhouse Number Eight and he waited for the rest of Slytherin and Ravenclaw to appear so the lesson could start. Unfortunately for him, he could not wait in peace. Pansy decided to take this chance to speak. She snatched the letter from Draco's hand.

"So is this what you've been sulking about?" She began to read the letter out loud.

'_Lucky no one's here yet . . .'_ Draco thought.

"'_Dear Son,_

_I will not bail you out this time. The old crackpot must have a reason for punishing you in this strange manner. You shall bear your punishment like any Malfoy would. I shall be seeing you soon,_

_Yours,_

_Lucius._

_P.s. By the way Draco, do not tell anyone that we wrote to one another. Do not ask why (If Miss Parkinson is reading this, hello and good day).'_

Is that all?" Pansy shrugged and handed the letter back to Draco. She took a seat next to him and began to coo at his hair.

* * *

Hermione wandered slowly to the library at four thirty. Her lessons had ended for the day and she was going to have her first taste of this punishment Dumbledore had sentenced her to. She grumbled, just as her stomach did. She was hungry, and who could blame her? She hadn't had supper yet (as Dumbledore had told Draco and her to go to the library straight after their lessons), and her lunch had digested already. 

She wondered if Draco was the same. She entered the library and sat at the nearest table. The library was empty, as all the students were in the Great Hall, eating. The thought of food (again), made her automatically drool.

"Sheesh Granger, I know you think I'm hot but you don't need to drool like that."

Hermione quickly wiped her mouth. She could feel herself blush furiously as he smirked and sat down opposite her. There was silence until a grumbling broke it. Hermione frowned. This time, it wasn't her. She looked at Draco and saw (to her amusement) that he was blushing. It was obvious that hearing a Malfoy's stomach grumble was not something that happened everyday.

She smirked and was about to say a snide remark when two house-elves suddenly appeared in front of them. They were pushing one big trolley, which looked as though it contained food. Before Hermione could say _S.P.E.W._ the house-elves had set the table, laid a napkin on her lap and placed the food in front of her before disappearing with a _'pop'_. Hermione looked down at her plate. It was full of roast potatoes and chicken, with some broccoli. She needed no persuasion to launch at her food.

It was five o'clock when she finished eating. As soon as she did, the plates and goblets disappeared automatically. She wiped her mouth with her napkin and sat back in her chair, quite content - until she remembered why she was in the library in the first place, and who was staring at her from across the table.

"Ah! Miss Granger! Mr Malfoy!"

Draco and Hermione both turned towards the voice. It was Madam Pince, the librarian.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed your dinner. You shall be eating it like this on the nights of your detentions from now on. Do you understand?"

They both nodded.

"Good. Your first session will be set here. Professor Dumbledore wanted you to get, let's just say, _accustomed_, to the idea of this first, as both of you seemed determined to not go through with this. Your task in the library is to sort the books into alphabetical order - in the restricted section only. You must do this without your wands. When you are done, you must research Hogwarts' four founders for me. I would like your research back before nine. Professor Binns and I shall grade your work and you two shall produce _one_ single paper to hand in. If you don't want to fail, I suggest you work together! And, might I add that this counts fortwenty percentof your N.E.W.T.S. Now get to work!"

Madam Pince gave them a nod, before swiftly turning and heading towards her desk to check some files.

"Come on then, Malfoy. We'd better get started if we're ever going to finish."

Draco grunted in reply. They set to work, and soon, they had almost finished sorting the restricted section of the library into alphabetical order. Hermione looked through one of the windows in the library. The sky was getting dark. She looked at Draco, who was sitting at a table with a book over his face.

The sorting would have been much easier if they had not been bickering all the time. It was mostly Draco who started the arguments, with stupid little things like, "Mudblood, I can't touch that book! You've already touched it! I might catch something!" or, "Mudblood, you can carry on! My precious feet are too tired for muggle slavery!"

But, luckily, Hermione resisted the temptation to hit him and carried on with what she was meant to be doing while he continued to moan. Finally, it was time to start the research and Hermione could only hope that Draco would help instead of sitting back and relaxing.

"Malfoy, I think this book might be useful. Have you found anything?" Hermione put the book (titled: _Hogwarts: How it all begun_) on the table and peered around a bookshelf to see whether he had found anything - only to find that he wasn't there.

"Malfoy?"

"Malfoy?" She called again, looking around another bookshelf.

'_Where on earth is he? He knows that I can't complete this assignment without him!' _She thought angrily, as she continued to search for him. She was beginning to get worried. She looked all around her but still, she couldn't see him.

"Looking for me?"

Turning swiftly around, Hermione came face to face with Draco Malfoy, casually leaning against a bookshelf. She glared angrily at him.

"_Where the hell do you think you've been? _We hardly have _any time _left to do this and you just go slouching off?"

"Well, for your information, Granger, I was not _slouching off_. I was merely going to another section of this library to find information - and look what I've found." He pointed to the table next to him. It was piled with books and parchment with a quill and an inkpot. Hermione was speechless. She didn't think that he would take this seriously; after all, he hadn't exactly taken the sorting that seriously.

"Hooray! Granger's realised I have a brain!" He rolled his eyes and sat on a chair. "Just because I didn't do any work earlier doesn't mean I won't do any now. This – and all the other tasks they assign us - does count fortwenty percentof our grade after all, and I won't let my grades fall just because of something as pathetic as _you_."

He cleared a small space opposite him and started to write on the parchment while Hermione went back to her original table, got her stuff (and the book) and went to work at Draco's table. She looked at all the books he had found. They were all very useful, full of the four founders original plan of the school, subjects that were originally taught and other things like that. The books that were the most useful were part of a series.

It was titled: '_The four founders of Hogwarts'_, and there was one book about each of the founders. They were very detailed and each had some diary entries written by the founders.

"Right, Granger,"Draco started, "Let's make a deal."

"If it's a truce then there's no way I'm agreeing to it." Hermione interrupted. She could not stand to be near him, let alone try to be nice to him.

"Well, no actually, I wasn't going to suggest anything of the sort." He snarled. "If you would have listened, Miss Know-It-All, I was going to suggest that I do Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw, while you do Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff. Then, afterwards, we can tape it all together to make one piece of work."

Hermione thought about this. It seemed logical (although she would never admit that to Draco) but she didn't see why she couldn't do Rowena Ravenclaw. There was nothing wrong with Helga Hufflepuff; it was just that she had always considered herself either to be a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw. However, she knew it wasn't wise to argue right now. It was already seven thirty - they only had one and a half hour to finish, and the sky was now completely dark. Creeping around Hogwarts at night was not a good idea. And so, Hermione kept quiet and nodded reluctantly.

They worked silently until the noise of quills scratching against the parchment had stopped. Hermione checked her work, as did Draco.

"Give your work here." Draco snatched Hermione's stack of parchment and using some spellotape from his pocket, he stuck them together. Hermione scowled at him.

"You needn't snatch it. Asking would have been nicer."

Hermione snatched the parchment back and scanned hers and Draco's work. Her eyebrows furrowed at what she read. It wasn't the fact that Draco's (or her) work was bad. It was what it contained. It seemed the four founders always had problems with each other.

Gryffindor and Slytherin having a problem with each other were normal, but apart from the pureblood and dirty blood problems, it seemed that they used to fight over a certain lady – Rowena Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff seemed to be more of a tomboy (and a little too obsessed with plants) but Ravenclaw; she was a lady, one of high class.

It seemed (from their diary entries), that they had fought for her hand in marriage and in the end, she had chosen Gryffindor. Slytherin was furious, but he had eventually fallen in love with a woman who was much like Gryffindor: brave, courageous, and full of Gryffindor spirit. This seemed strange, as Slytherin hated Gryffindor and yet he had fallen for a woman just like him.

She turned a page and read more. Draco had written about some sort of legend. A Seer had written the legend shortly after all the founders had died.

The legend said that when great danger would come in the future and the warrior was weak, true love would help him survive - but the legend explained that it was not just any true love. It had to be a love much like the one Slytherin and his bride had shared. It said that this was so, because their love was the greatest, and would be the most help in times of peril. But at that moment,Hermione was interrupted from her reading.

"Come on, Granger, it's nearly nine."

Draco took the work from Hermione and handed the paper in to Madam Pince. As Head Boy and Head Girl, Hermione and Draco had to do their night patrol at nine. They left the library and patrolled half the school each before heading to bed: exhausted after a hard day's work.

* * *

"I must say, this is a long essay!" Madam Pince exclaimed, flicking through the paper. 

"I agree," Professor Binns nodded, gliding around Madam Pince. "I think it deserves the top mark. After all, they found and wrote out what Albus wanted them to."

Madam Pince nodded, pointed her wand at the essay (making a mark appear in the corner) and set the essay on her desk. She got off her wooden chair and bid Professor Binns a goodnight before heading to her room for some sleep. Professor Binns planned to do something of the sort. He blew out the last candle in the library and glided to his classroom to prepare for his next lesson in the morning. The library fell silent.

All of a sudden, a rustling could be heard. It crept around until It came up to Madam Pince's desk. It rustled around some more, papers being moved from their original place, and then carefully moved back. Its hand hovered above her desk until It saw what It was looking for. Quickly and swiftly, It snatched the essay and ran silently away.

* * *

**Edited Version: _29th July 2005_**


	5. A New Discovery

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-LIKES-EVERYTHING.**

**Disclaimer: **_I own absolutely nothing. Enjoy the story, and remember not to sue!_

* * *

Chapter Five: A New Discovery.

"Albus?"

"Yes, Madam Pince?"

"May I have a word? Away from all the students, I mean."

"But of course."

Hermione watched as the two members of staff exited the Great Hall, Madam Pince whispering urgently as they went. She looked back down at her plate – scrambled eggs and bacon. Simple, but delicious – the house-elves definitely knew how to cook (although Hermione still thought that it was elf cruelty). She ate it silently; after all, no one was exactly desperate to talk to her.

"So, how was it yesterday?"

She turned to her right to see Harry and Ron smiling nervously at her. She gave them a quizzical look.

"What we mean is," Harry begun, "How was the detention with Malfoy?" He smiled nervously again, as did Ron. They both seemed to be petrified of her for some reason.

"How do you know about that?" She asked, frowning. She hadn't told anyone about it - not a single soul.

"Erm- well- we- erm," Ron looked around the room guiltily, trying to find some sort of excuse.

"We heard Malfoy say so." Harry answered quickly. Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione was unconvinced. They knew something that she didn't, and she wanted to know what that something was. She gave them both a suspicious stare.

"Oh -well -erm -look at the time!" Ron said, nodding at Harry.

"Erm -yeah, it's time for Transfiguration. We'd better go, see you later, Hermione."

Harry and Ron took their books and bags and left the Great Hall. Hermione sighed. She knew that it wouldn't be easy to find out what was going on. After all, it never was. She took her bag and decided to follow Ron and Harry towards the Transfiguration classroom. This year, they would have Transfiguration with the Slytherins, instead of with the Ravenclaws.

When Hermione arrived at Professor McGonagall's classroom, she sat in her usual seat, and took out her quill, a piece of parchment (for note taking) and her wand. Harry and Ron sat at the back of the room – where some Slytherins would normally sit. It didn't take long for the rest of the Slytherins and Gryffindors to arrive.

"Settle down, students, settle down!" Professor McGonagall shouted above the noise. The classroom chatter slowly died down. "Today, we are going to be practicing what we learnt last lesson – to transfigure people into plants. As I have explained before, this is a very difficult task, and you must be very careful with your wand movements. There have been times when the spells have gone horribly wrong, and people have been forced to live their lives as half a flower and half a human. Now, get yourself into pairs!"

Hermione looked around the room. She loathed pair work, for she always found it hard to find someone willing to work with her. She looked beside her at the two seats where Harry and Ron would usually sit. One of the seats was empty, but on the other . . . sat a boy that Hermione didn't recognise. He was a Slytherin, with blonde hair and glassy eyes.

She looked around. Everyone had already been sorted into pairs. The only people, it seemed, that didn't have a partner, was her and this strange boy. Hermione coughed in an attempt to get his attention.

He looked up, and blinked at her blankly.

"Erm- hi, my name's Hermione Granger," She held out her hand.

"Flewington, Callum. I believe you've met my brother."

Hermione nodded. _Flewington._ It rang a bell. She remembered that little first-year, Conner Flewington, had mentioned his 'nice' Slytherin brother.

"Miss Granger, Mr Flewington, I'm afraid you two are the only students that haven't found a partner. That means you'll have to work together." Professor McGonagall announced. Hermione nodded, as did Callum. "Now, I want you to turn to page fifteen in your textbooks, and read the section that explains what you must do before you begin. Once you are done, feel free to practice the spell on your partner. I shall be watching you all."

Hermione sat back down in her seat and turned to page fifteen. Callum did the same. Hermione glanced at him. He seemed rather quiet for a Slytherin. She wondered if he was a friend of Blaise Zabini.

"You're intelligent," Callum said, "You already know how to do this, right?"

She nodded. She had read the entire bookduring the summer holidays, "I haven't practiced the spell properly though."

Callum smiled at her, showing off his sparkling white teeth. Hermione tried not to look too shocked. She had never known a Slytherin to smile before a Gryffindor. She returned his smile and they set off to work together.

* * *

Hermione walked to the library silently. She had finished her lunch and had some spare time before her next lesson would begin. She decided to head to the library, to research transfiguring humans – after all, she didn't want any accidents while she was practicing on a fellow classmate i.e. Callum. In the short hour that they had talked in the lesson, Hermione had found that Callum was indeed, a 'nice' guy, just as his brother had said. 

She entered the library to find it nearly empty. Almost immediately, she spotted a person she knew at the far end of the room.

"May I sit here?" She asked politely.

"No, of course not." Callum Flewington replied sarcastically. He smiled at her again as she sat down. And he continued to smile as she opened her textbook and began to read. Hermione read for a while before glancing over her book, to find that Callum was still smiling at her. She closed her book and put it back down on the table.

"You know, there is something that's been bugging me." Hermione began. "Why?"

Callum continued to smile, but raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"

"Why did you want to be partners with me?" She said, analysing Callum's face in an attempt to see into his mind.

"What do you mean?" He asked innocently. "I had to be partners with you. Ron Weasley and Harry Potter sat in my space."

"I thought that at first." Hermione said. "But then I thought, you could have easily moved when we were choosing our partners. You deliberately stayed where you were, knowing well that I was going to be the only student left who didn't have a partner."

Callum laughed. "You're right." He continued to smile. "I could have moved, but I chose not to. I don't always enjoy working with Slytherins you know. They're awfully immature and are, most likely, plotting against you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. He was either telling the truth, or was an excellent liar. It was strange what he was saying about Slytherins. She had heard people say it before, but never from the actual mouth of a real Slytherin. She nodded and opened her book again.

"Do you mind me asking you something now, Hermione?" Callum asked casually. She nodded again.

"Have you heard of any . . . legends, lately?"

Hermione frowned. A legend? She had only heard of one. The one thatDraco and her had researched the other day – the one about Slytherin and his bride. She was just about to reply, when Callum interrupted.

"Oh look at the time, we should get to our lessons before we're late."

Nodding, Hermione quickly packed her things. Callum said a quick goodbye before heading out of the library. Hermione soon followed him.

* * *

"Albus, there's something that's been worrying me all day." McGonagall stated, looking anxious in the light of the moon. 

"Would you like to tell me about it, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked her, his voice calm and gentle.

"I happened to be in the library today," began McGonagall, "Talking to Irma. We were having a quiet chat, when I noticed Hermione Granger coming into the library. Of course, she does enjoy going there, but I found it awfully strange when I saw her join a Slytherin boy – Callum Flewington. He's never usually in the library, and he never usually socialises with Gryffindors either."

A look of surprise crossed Dumbledore's face, but quickly faded.

"Mr Flewington and Miss Granger are also working together in my Transfiguration class." McGonagall continued. "Do you think he's getting in the way of your plan, Albus?"

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. "We have to watch out for a spy, Minerva."

"A spy? Do you know who it is?"

"I have a good idea, but we shall have to wait and see for ourselves."

McGonagall nodded, knowing that she had to trust Dumbledore completely. Dumbledore turned to her and spoke.

"If we don't take this chance, Minerva, we will be more than likely to lose, and we can't afford to lose. I know you're worried, but we have no other choice. Trying to complete this plan is all that we can do to help Mr Potter."

* * *

"My Lord." 

"Yes, Wormtail?"

"I have just received a letter from your spy at Hogwarts, My Lord."

"Let me see it, Wormtail."

Lord Voldemort's bony hands snatched the parchment from Wormtail's grasp. He read it quickly and smiled in satisfaction at what he read. Dumbledore would not want him to know what the letter contained. He would not want him to know about his little plan.

'_Well'_, Voldemort thought, _'I will most definitely have to find out about it then, won't I?'_

He laughed hysterically, with Wormtail still bowing down before him.

* * *

"_AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

Harry woke, screaming in pain. Neville, Ron, Seamus and Dean were looking at him worriedly. Harry's scar had started to burn more than it had done ever before.

* * *

**Edited Version:_ 29th July 2005_**


	6. The Second Detention

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-LAUGHS-WHEN-ANYONE-MENTIONS-THE-MALFOYS.**

**Disclaimer: **_Once again, I shall repeat that I own nothing. Keep this in mind._

* * *

Chapter Six: The Second Detention.

"So, Professor, what should I do?"

"Do not worry, Mr Potter. I know exactly why Lord Voldemort was jumping with glee. I'm afraid that what I have feared has come true. This will make it even harder for our plan to succeed."

There was a deafening silence.

"Professor," began Harry, looking into the eyes of the Headmaster with hope, "I know this is a bad situation, but does this mean that me and Ron can start being friends with Hermione again? We miss her, Professor, and we don't like to see her so unhappy."

Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm sorry, but that cannot be so. If she is alone, then she will need more comfort and if you and Mr Weasley are not there to comfort her, then Mr Malfoy may have a chance."

"But, Professor, if you don't mind me saying, me and Ron - and all the Professors - we all know that it's practically impossible and we've said it time and time again! They can hardly go near each other without making snide remarks and seeing as Voldemort knows now, it's even more unlikely, because he'll just try to stop it! His spy was probably the one who stole that essay about the legend, and he's probably passed it on to him! I bet he knows _exactly_ what our plan is!"

Dumbledore closed his eyes calmly at Harry's outburst.

"Indeed. I will not hesitate to say that you are correct but we have to try; there is no point in giving up. And if the legend does come true, fate will be with us, and even Lord Voldemort cannot stop fate. Now I think you should be off to bed, Mr Potter. It is very late. Make sure you inform me if anything strange is going on."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Professor."

* * *

Wednesday passed surprisingly fast and soon, Thursday had arrived. Hermione was on her way to the library for her second detention with Draco. When she arrived, she found that he was already there, munching quite contently on a chocolate frog. 

"Hurry up and sit down, Granger," said Draco through a mouthful of chocolate, "Dinner doesn't start until we both sit down."

She gave him a cold and nasty look before settling herself on a chair opposite him. The house-elves soon arrived with their dinner (cottage pie with peas) and the two students ate it without a second thought. Afterwards, they waited patiently for their teacher to arrive. Hermione slouched in her seat and held a hand over her stomach. She was stuffed.

"Acting a bit sloppy aren't you, Granger?"

She scowled at him and was about to reply, when a cruel voice called out from behind. "Five points from Gryffindor for nearly continuing an argument."

Hermione swiftly turned (as did Draco), and saw to her disappointment, that it was only Snape. He nodded at both of them.

"Come with me."

Snape turned and walked out of the library, soon followed by Draco and Hermione. It didn't take long, before they arrived at the Hogwarts dungeons. They entered a dungeon classroom, where Snape began to explain what their task would be.

"You must clean this entire classroom from head to foot. I want the floor spotless, the cauldrons spotless, everything in this room spotless by nine o'clock tonight." He paused. The dungeon classroom looked as though it had not been cleaned for a while. The students had not bothered to clean out their cauldrons – the potions that they had been making remained inside. "No magic is allowed in this task. If you attempt to clear any part of this room with your wands, the mess will double. I shall be back at nine."

Snape promptly exited, leaving Hermione and Draco to clean up the mess. They stood for a moment, looking blankly around the room.

"Okay Granger, let's get started. You take the right, then take the left and I'll take that chair over there."

"That's not fair, Malfoy! This task is for us to do _together_ and if I do it all by myself, I'll never get it done by nine!" She sighed angrily. Draco had already sat down on Snape's armchair with his legs up on Snape's desk. Yawning loudly, he shut his eyes, as if he was about to fall asleep. Hermione couldn't take it. She took his arm and pulled it hard so that Draco fell to the floor with a loud thump.

"Now, _you're_ taking the left and I'm taking the right. Understand?" Hermione didn't wait for a reply. She quickly got to work with the disinfectant and cloths that had been laid out on Snape's desk. "Oh, and before I forget, Malfoy, be careful with the cauldrons. You don't know what they might have been brewing."

Draco grunted. They scrubbed at the mould in the corners of the room, polished the cauldrons until they could see their own reflection, and swept the floor until not a single speck of dust remained. Surprisingly enough, Hermione had not heard a single moan escape from Draco's mouth – and it was nearly nine.

The detention was going rather well (considering the task was cleaning up with Draco Malfoy), but as Hermione poured the potion in the cauldrons down the sink in the corner, she heard a loud explosion from behind her. She turned and to her horror, found Draco lying on the floor next to a spilt cauldron.

"Malfoy!" She cried.

Hermione put her cauldron on the floor and rushed over to where Draco lay. He had obviously been trying to carry two cauldrons at once and failed, spilling the two potions onto himself as he did so. She now realised that one potion was a swelling potion and the other, was a potion that caused nasty boils to appear on the body. She pulled out her wand and mumbled a spell that she had read about in one of her many books. Malfoy's swelling stomach dropped back to its original size but the boils remained. The book had not mentioned boils.

"Malfoy?" She asked urgently, hitting his face gently as she did so. There was no response.

"Malfoy?" She called again. This time, she shook him slightly. He groaned quietly. She leant closer towards him. "Are you feeling okay? Mal – Draco?"

It seemed wiser to wake him with his first name, instead of his last. He groaned and shifted his head slightly.

"Draco, tell me how you're feeling."

He groaned again, and opened his eyes slightly. "What do you think, Granger? Bloody awful."

The growing feeling of pity in Hermione's stomach immediately shrunk. He would never change.

"Right, Draco, don't move a muscle. I don't know how serious this is, so just . . . don't do a thing, do you understand?"

He nodded slightly.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

Using her wand, she lifted him up and through the door towards the Hospital Wing. If she did this quickly, she could get back to the dungeons in time to finish off the cleaning. If not, then so be it. She couldn't just carry on tidying while she knew someone was hurt – even if it was, just, Draco. She arrived quickly enough and Madam Pomfrey was only eager to help.

"How on earth did this happen?" She asked, hurriedly grabbing some bottles from a shelf nearby.

"We were in one of our detentions and he spilled two potions on himself. One was a swelling potion, and the other was a potion that causes those boils. I managed to stop the swelling before it got any worse but I don't know how to deal with boils."

Madam Pomfrey nodded and rushed over to Draco's side. She opened his mouth and poured a drop from each of the bottles into his mouth. "He'll have to stay here for the night. The two potions seem to have a side effect when mixed, but I'm not quite sure what it is. I don't want this to spread through the rest of the school. I don't think Mr Malfoy would appreciate all this talk of his face turning into this horror, and I don't suppose he'd want visitors either, but you're welcome to visit – seeing as you've already seen his face." She paused and turned to Draco.

"Is that all right with you, Mr Malfoy?"

He nodded. He most definitely didn't want anyone to see his face covered with nasty red boils (that could easily be mistaken for acne).

"You may leave now Miss Granger, it is getting late and your night patrol will be longer without the Head Boy to assist you. Leave the dungeon as it is. I'll have a word with Professor Snape for you." Madam Pomfrey bid goodnight to Hermione as she made her way towards her office.

"Goodnight, Madam Pomfrey." Hermione called before turning towards the door and walking out of the Hospital Wing.

She could have sworn she heard Draco mumble a quiet thanks before she left, but she thought no more of it.

Madam Pomfrey watched as Draco shut his eyes and slowly fell asleep. She tiptoed out of the Hospital Wing and rushed to Dumbledore's office, where most of the staff had already gathered. As she entered, the conversations stopped, and all eyes turned to the breathless nurse. She told them of what had happened in the Hospital Wing.

"They certainly are starting to . . . bond," remarked Snape, as Madam Pomfrey took a seat beside him. All of the staff seemed worried, except for Dumbledore, who merely smiled.

"And they know about the legend," Madam Pince added.

"Yes, but so does the spy, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Professor Binns interrupted. Everyone nodded.

"That Potter boy came complaining about his scar as well," Filch muttered, stroking Mrs Norris as he spoke.

"Well, that cannot be helped." Dumbledore sighed. "But it is going well, you have to admit that." They all nodded again.

"Yes," said McGonagall, giving Dumbledore a small smile, "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Albus. There might just be some hope after all."

* * *

"My Lord, there is another letter from your spy, reporting today's detention." 

Voldemort snatched the parchment that had just been sent to him and read it with interest. "How very . . . interesting. The boy is starting to weaken." He turned to Wormtail and glared at him with piercing red eyes.

"Get Lucius to check the Hogwarts student files at the Ministry for me. I need a full list of Hogwarts students as soon as possible. Remind him that he's meeting my spy at Hogsmeade tomorrow. Do you understand?"

Wormtail nodded. "Yes, My Lord."

He retreated quickly and set off to find an owl to sendto Malfoy Manor.

* * *

Hermione ate her food slowly the next morning. Every so often, she glanced over to the Slytherin table to see if Draco had recovered, but there was no sign of him. She didn't know why she was so bothered. It wasn't like they were friends or anything, but she found herself caring for him and wondering if he was going to be okay. She tried to forget about him but she couldn't. Somehow, all her thoughts would end with Draco. Two boys watched as she stood up and left the Great Hall to wait in the Arithmancy classroom. 

"I wish we could talk to her. I still don't understand why Dumbledore won't let us be friends." Ron whispered to Harry.

"I suppose he's doing it because he thinks that we'll just get in the way of this whole Malfoy and Hermione thing . . . and to be honest, Ron, I think that we would have if he didn't keep us away from her."

"Well, speaking of Malfoy, where the hell is he?"

"I don't know. But I can bet you that Hermione does."

* * *

The lessons that day passed horribly slowly and Hermione even surprised herself by not putting her hand up in any of her lessons. Her thoughts drifted to Draco and for once she was glad that no one spoke to her. She was beginning to enjoy the time that she had to think things through without disturbance. 

"Hermione!" Someone shouted from behind her.

She turned to find Callum Flewington running to catch up with her. He grinned. "I just wanted to know if you've seen Draco lately."

Hermione tried her best to look blank.

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't," she replied. She didn't want to lie to anyone.

Callum raised an eyebrow and nodded at her before he turned and walked away. Hermione stood for a while, frowning in confusion. She decided to forget what had just happened. It couldn't be important. Hermione decided that she should head towards the greenhouses, instead of the Gryffindor common room. She wanted to pick up a little something before heading to the Hospital Wing and it wasn't long before she arrived at her destination.

"Professor?" Hermione called, knocking on Professor Sprout's office door.

"Yes, dear?" A voice – presumably Sprout's – called in reply.

Hermione entered the room and felt her cheeks flush slightly. "I was wondering, Professor . . . I was wondering . . . erm . . . whether you have any, erm . . ."

"Flowers, honey?" Professor Sprout smiled. She had been expecting this. Dumbledore had mentioned an event like this at the meeting yesterday evening. Hermione nodded shyly as the blood continued to rush to her cheeks. "Okay dear, come with me. I have some lovely flowers that I started growing just this year."

She led Hermione to Greenhouse Four. As Hermione looked inside, she gasped at what she saw. She had never expected Hogwarts to grow such beautiful flowers! Some were blue, some were red and some were even black and white.

"Now, I think this one would suit him perfectly!" Professor Sprout exclaimed as she picked a bunch of flowers and handedthem to Hermione. They were roses, but they weren't just any roses – the petals were a rich green, and the stem was a shade of gold. Hermione smiled to herself. They would, indeed, suit Draco perfectly.

"Thank you very much, Professor!"

Professor Sprout watched as Hermione hurried out. She waited patiently for a while, before hurriedly making her way to Dumbledore's office to report the good news.

* * *

"Why Miss Granger! This is a lovely surprise."

Madam Pomfrey opened the door and smiled. She had to let Professor Dumbledore know about this. She glanced at the flowers clutched in Hermione's hands. That was, unless Professor Sprout had already informed him.

"He's asleep at the moment, but he'll be awake soon. If he does wake, do you mind if you just feed him from the tray on that table over there? It seems he has difficultly moving – one of the side effects I suspect. And don't worry; I made sure he wasn't lying! I'll be gone for some time."

Madam Pomfrey held the door open and waited for Hermione to enter. Closing the door behind her, she rushed out of the Hospital Wing and in the direction of Dumbledore's office. Hermione crept towards Draco's bed and sat on the empty bed beside him. Summoning a china vase using the power of her wand, she put the flowers into it and placed the vase on his bedside table. She stared at him silently. He looked _kind of_ cute, when he was asleep. But then again, Crookshanks did too and he was a nightmare when he was awake. She jumped as a groan escaped Draco's lips. His eyes parted slightly.

"What on earth are you doing here, Granger?" He managed to stutter, trying his best to sit up straight – and failing to do so.

"Attempting to murder you." She rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"

Draco glared at her before turning away.

"Where's Madam Pomfrey? I'm hungry."

"She went somewhere. She told me to feed you instead." Draco raised an eyebrow as Hermione went to get his dinner. She returned with some porridge and a bottle of potion. She put one hand behind his back and pushed him forward, placing an extra pillow behind his back so that he could sit up properly. Draco gave Hermione a questioning look. She sighed.

"Trust me Malfoy, I don't have a clue why I'm doing this either. Now open your mouth." He did as he was told and Hermione blew gently on the porridge before putting the spoonful in his mouth. Draco swallowed with difficulty.

"Do I have to have that potion? It tastes foul." Draco said, staring disgustedly at the green medicine Hermione was now holding out to him. He wrinkled his nose at the smell.

"Yes, you do, Malfoy. If you want to get better soon, that is." He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth. Hermione placed the spoon in his mouth and watched him wriggle as he swallowed. He pulled a face and she laughed. It wasn't so bad being around him when he didn't have anyone to show off to.

"I like the flowers by the way." He said, looking at the vase.

Hermione smiled, happy that he appreciated them. She glanced at her watch and gasped. "Is it nine already? I better go, seeing as I have to do night patrol by myself again. Get well soon, Malfoy!"

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and hurried out of the Hospital Wing, leaving Draco bewildered. He placed a hand on his cheek in disbelief.

"Holy crap."

Hermione leant against the door of the Hospital Wing. She had just kissed Draco Malfoy. Yes, _kissed _Draco Malfoy. She shuddered. The peck on the cheek had certainly been unexpected, and she mentally reminded herself never to do it again.

* * *

It was Hogsmeade weekend. The weather outside was beautifully sunny and after breakfast, everybody either signed the list that Filch held out to go into Hogsmeade, or sat outside to finish off some last minute homework. Hermione decided to sit by the lake for a little light reading. She had nothing to buy and no one to meet up with, therefore having no reason to enter Hogsmeade at all. As she sat below a tree and turned the page, she heard a loud cough from beside her. 

"Hello Callum," Hermione said, squinting up at him. He gave her a small smile and crouched down beside her.

"How are you today, Hermione?" Callum asked politely.

She smiled and replied, "Fine, and you?"

"Just great, although there has been something that's been bugging me lately." Hermione closed her book as Callum continued. "I do wonder . . . have you ever had a boyfriend?"

She gave him a suspicious look, "Yes, why do you ask?"

"I was just curious. Who were they?"

She gave him another suspicious look. He laughed. "Look, I'm just trying to be friendly. And I do have a good reason for asking . . . just tell me who they were first."

"Well," Hermione began, thinking hard. It had been a long time since she had had a boyfriend. "There was a brief thing with Viktor Krum and then, during the summer, I went out with this muggle boy called John, but he got jealous every time I talked to a boy. Then, I started to go out with Ron Weasley at the beginning of sixth year. But we both agreed it wasn't working after a few months, and that was it. I haven't had a boyfriend since."

Callum nodded, and grinned mischievously. "Would you like another boyfriend?"

Hermione frowned at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you see, I have this mate. He likes you – a lot - but he's way too shy to ask you out."

Hermione frowned and stared at Callum for a while. She wasn't quite sure whether to believe him or not.

"Who is this mate of yours, exactly?"

"Oh just . . . somebody. He doesn't want me to tell you yet, you see. He just wanted me to ask you to meet up with him next week, under that oak tree over there. He wants it to be a blind date sort of thing, to make it more exciting."

Hermione looked at the lake, which was gleaming mysteriously in the sunlight. She didn't know what to say, and she didn't know why she was hesitating either. She sighed.

"Fine. Tell him I'll be there." Hermione said, looking up and expecting to see Callum. Instead, she saw that he was already walking away from her.

"Where are you going?" She called after him. He glanced over his shoulder and gave her a small smile.

"Oh, just Hogsmeade."

* * *

Lucius Malfoy looked around angrily, as he sat in a dark corner of the Three Broomsticks. He tapped his foot impatiently. That little spy was meant to be there by now. 

"I'm so sorry, Mr Malfoy, I had to keep you waiting. The second stage of the plan took longer than I thought it would." The spy said, sitting down beside Lucius and helping himself to some butterbeer on the table.

"Why, I thought the little spy could handle anything?" Lucius sneered.

"I couldn't find the Granger girl last night, and I had homework to finish. I am still a student, even if I am working for the Dark Lord."

"You did find her in the end though, didn't you?"

"Of course. You can tell the Dark Lord that it seems all is going well – just as he planned."

"And are you sure that Dumbledore knows nothing of our plan?"

"Well, I cannot be certain. No one is sure of what that old fool is thinking most of the time, not even the great Dark Lord himself. Surely you know that, Mr Malfoy."

Lucius sniffed. "I should be leaving you then. People would find it highly suspicious that I, the great Lucius Malfoy, is talking to someone like you."

With a nod and a malicious smile, Lucius Malfoy left his seat and strode out of the Three Broomsticks, leaving the spy to sip his butterbeer.

* * *

Dumbledore stroked his phoenix, Fawkes, fondly as he looked out of his window at the night sky. The plan was going exceedingly well and he was pretty sure that the spy was not aware of their knowledge. Suddenly he heard a crash from behind him. He looked up and turned to find that someone had shot out of the fireplace. Obviously, they had just travelled to his office by Floo powder. He recognised this person almost immediately. 

"Yes, Mundungus?" He smiled, his eyes twinkling knowingly.

Mundungus Fletcher got up and straightened his skirt. Although he was a man, he still enjoyed dressing up as though he was a young witch. He looked up at Dumbledore and smiled, revealing his grim yellow teeth.

"'Ave some news dat might interest ya. Ya might wanna know it cus' of dat plan ya told me 'bout at Grimmauld Place, ya know?"

Dumbledore nodded and gestured to the loveseat in front of his desk. Mundungus sat down.

"Well, ya see Professor, I was drinking me fire whisky at the Three Broomsticks when I noticed Lucius Malfoy sitting in da corner. 'E was looking around, quite frantically, waitin' for somebody, so I waited for 'em too. When 'e arrived, I was surprised, cus' it wasn't a grown man, like I fought. Instead, it was one of ya students – 'ere! 'Ere, in 'Ogwarts!" Mundungus paused as Dumbledore surveyed him through his half moon spectacles.

"And do you know the Hogwarts student's name, Mundungus?"

"I sure do Professor! It's –

* * *

**Edited Version: _30th July 2005_**


	7. A New Professor and the Third Detention

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-RUNNING-OUT-OF-IDEAS-FOR-THIS.**

**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing. Thank you and have a good day. _

_Note:_ _In this chapter, I've tried desperately hard to get Hagrid's accent right. In case I've failed, I'll say sorry now! Thanks and enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

Chapter Seven: A New Professor and the Third Detention.

Sunday was peaceful and quiet. Students sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine as they watched Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick and this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Hoover, try to place the giant squid back into the lake – deflated.

There had been a lot of argument between the students about Professor Hoover. She was a muggle-born witch, a mudblood as some of the ruder students would claim. The Slytherins tried their hardest to make her life at Hogwarts a living hell, but she was tough and would ruthlessly punish those who dared to disobey her. Hermione had also seen her in one of the meetings with the Order of the Phoenix.

Hermione felt something that seemed like relief, as she saw the giant squid swim happily in the lake. She had forgotten why she had the detentions with Draco in the first place and now it all came flooding back to her.

"Ahem."

Hermione sat and swatted at a bee that was buzzing around her head. She ignored the impatient cough coming from beside her.

"Ignoring me, are you?"

She jumped. Draco sat down beside her and smirked.

"What are you doing here, Mal – Dra – Mal – Dra – Gah." Hermione waved her hands in the air in frustration, as his smirk grew wider.

"My name is Draco Malfoy. You either call me Draco, or Malfoy. It's fairly simple really." He said smugly as he watched the squid being petted by some second years. "Oh, and I'm here to stay away from Pansy. She's been following me around all day, asking me where I've been. It gets annoying. I know she won't even dare to come near me if I come and sit here. Scared of catching mudblood germs you see."

Hermione snorted. Lame excuses. "Well aren't _you_ scared of catching mudblood germs?"

"Of course I am! I put a charm on myself. Stops bacteria from getting onto my beautiful body." She rolled her eyes. Same old bloody Malfoy – arrogant as ever.

* * *

"Lucius!" 

The Dark Lord called for his Death Eater.

"Did you meet my spy yesterday?"

"Yes, My Lord."

Lucius Malfoy bowed down in front of his master and replied, "All is going well. I have the Hogwarts student files with me."

He handed them to Lord Voldemort. Voldemort smirked as he pointed his wand at it and muttered a spell. Immediately, two names sprung from the parchment.

"Wormtail!" He called, his eyes glistening.

The rat-like man crawled up to his master. "Yes, My Lord?"

"Get me some parchment and a quill. I shall write a letter, myself, to the spy."

"Yes, My Lord." He hurried away, stumbling over Lucius' foot as he went.

Lucius smiled cruelly before facing the Dark Lord once again. "My Lord, may I ask a favour?"

Voldemort raised a thin eyebrow at Lucius' question. "Seeing as you have completed this task successfully for me . . . I'll think about it. What is this favour?"

"I would like to have the honour to deal with my son, while you deal with that dratted Harry Potter." Lucius spat out Harry's name, as though it was filthy even pronouncing such words.

"Of course, Lucius. Your son is of no importance to me; he is only important to Dumbledore. You can do what you please to him."

* * *

The next day's lessons passed quickly and soon, it was detention time. Hermione and Draco ate their dinner in silence and waited patiently for their Professor to arrive. Hermione had almost given up on waiting, when suddenly, someone burst through the library doors. 

"Sorry I'm late, I got a bit tied up." Hagrid's enormous self stood in the library. His hair looked ruffled and somehow rather feathery. "The chickens wen' ballistic. You'll find out why soon, but I'm 'ere now so, com'on."

Hagrid led the two outside, where they stopped on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid pushed aside a nearby tree to reveal the most beautiful creatures that Hermione had ever seen.

"A beauty they are, but the chickens seem ter be terrified of 'em."

Hagrid beamed proudly as Hermione stared in wonder. They were unicorns – but not just any unicorns - they were golden and silver with purely magnificent wings. Hermione gazed at what seemed to be the female and it gazed back. Its crystal blue eyes appeared to be swirling.

"They're very rare. Only about twen'y-five left in the U.K."

Hermione nodded as Hagrid began to explain what they were to do. He was going out on a date with Madame Maxime and he needed someone to feed the beautiful creatures and wash them as well. He then told them what the winged unicorns ate and that he would be back at nine to see how well they had taken care of them. If they finished before he returned, they were allowed to stay outside, or if they preferred, to go inside and back into their separate common rooms.

"Oh, and yer should name 'em too. I couldn' think of a name that would suit them." Hagrid gave Draco a nod, and ruffled Hermione's hair before turning around and slowly walking away.

"Wait!" Hermione called after him suddenly. "Hagrid! Where did you get them from?"

Hagrid stopped and turned to Hermione with a smile. "I found 'em, in the forest. Nothin' illegal, don' worry!"

Hermione breathed a great sigh of relief before returning Hagrid's smile. With one final nod, the gentle giant turned and began walking away once again. Draco waited until he was well out of earshot.

"I don't see why we have to name those - those – those _things_. Can't the big loaf even name something without losing a few brain cells?"

"There's a legend that I read about, Malfoy. The book said that it's very hard to name one of these species. If you don't get the right name, they'll ignore you, as if you don't exist anymore!"

"Yes, Granger, I do know what 'ignore' means. What happens if you do get the right names then?"

"Their horns will glow gold and the person who guessed their name correctly, and anyone who was there to witness it, will be blessed."

"Blessed?" Draco suddenly became interested. "In what way exactly?"

"Well, it depends. Suppose it's name is Wealth, and you guess it's name correctly, then one day, you'll find that you have all the money you need when you most need it. Like, if they're pushing you out of your flat because you haven't got any money to pay the bills, then suddenly, you have enough to pay the bills and buy all the broomsticks in the world!"

Draco appeared to be deep in thought. "How . . . very interesting . . . "

She frowned and eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean by '_very interesting_'?"

He shrugged and looked at the winged unicorns. He smirked at them. "We better get to feeding you two then, shouldn't we?" Draco took the lettuce in front of him and laid it in a trough. "Hand me the tomatoes then, Granger." Hermione did as she was told. Hagrid had said that they enjoyed salads; she wondered what salad Draco would make.

"Carrots."

"Potatoes."

"Sweet corn."

"Cabbages."

"Salad Cream."

Hermione watched as Draco added each vegetable with care. She had never seen him like this before – actually acting like he cared about something for once. Draco caught her looking.

"Can't let those bloody things starve now, can we? _Wingardium Leviosa_."

He lifted the trough and carefully placed it in front of the two beasts. They both stared at it for a while before they began to nibble at it. Slowly, the salad began to disappear and as they finished their meal, one of the unicorns – the male – looked up and saw Draco and Hermione watching it curiously. Its eyes somehow told them that it was happy and grateful.

"Shall we clean them now?" Hermione asked, turning to face Draco. He nodded and with a wave of his wand, he summoned two big tubs of water with foaming bubbles and soap.

"You can clean her and I'll clean him." He said.

They spent quite some time cleaning them and by the time they had finished, the unicorns looked even more ravishing than they did before. Hermione combed the female's silvery mane dreamily.

"I really do wonder what your name is," said Hermione absent-mindedly as she brushed.

"How about . . . Death?" Draco wondered aloud. Hermione sent him a glare.

"Malfoy, it has to be something good! Not something horrid!" Hermione turned back to the female unicorn. "Perhaps . . . Friendship?"

Draco snorted. Hermione glared some more.

"Fine! I'll be serious!" He looked into the eyes of his winged horse, his face screwing up in concentration. "Maybe . . . Sweets?"

It was Hermione's turn to snort.

"What kind of a name is _Sweets_? How could you be blessed with _Sweets_?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Draco's supposedly _serious_ suggestion.

"Well, if you got hungry, then you could have all you can eat – sweets!"

Hermione paused before she started to laugh. Draco was almost cute when he wasn't trying to be annoying. _Almost._

"Would your name be . . . Faith?" She asked her unicorn softly. There was no reaction.

The pair continued to guess name after name, but still, neither of the horns would glow. Hermione was determined to find their names, while Draco was growing more impatient by the minute. It didn't take long before Hermione was also growing impatient.

". . . I can't think of anything anymore! Maybe I should just give up hope!" She cried. As she finished her sentence, the horn on the female unicorn shone a bright gold. She beamed at Draco. "Its name must be Hope!"

Draco frowned. "So, you'll be blessed with hope? How that makes sense I don't know." He stared intently at his creature for a while, before smirking and triumphantly exclaiming, "I think I've got it. Saviour!"

As Draco had suspected, he was correct and the horn on the male unicorn shone, just as the females' had done.

* * *

Soon, Hermione and Draco had completed all their tasks and the two winged unicorns had fallen asleep. They sat beneath a tree and watched the beasts as they slept peacefully. 

"You know, I don't get it." Draco said, breaking the silence.

"What don't you get?"

"I don't get how you –

"You mean we."

"Yeah, whatever. I don't understand how you can be blessed with Hope and I'm blessed with _Saviour_? What the hell does that mean anyway?"

"Well, for one thing, _we_ are blessed with both things and I guess being blessed with Saviour means to be saved or something. If you think about it for a while, it'll make sense." Hermione stated matter-of-factly. Draco grunted. He felt annoyed – Hermione Granger, always the one to know everything. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, before they saw a figure coming towards them. That figure, was named Hagrid.

"Great job! They're cleaner than I thought they could ever be!" Hagrid grinned down at Hermione and Draco. "Did yer happen ter figure out their names?"

Hermione nodded eagerly. "Yeah, the female is called Hope and the male is called Saviour."

"Hope an' Saviour, is it? Well, it suits 'em perfectly! Yer can leave now - ten points ter Gryffindor!"

"Hey!" Draco cried indignantly.

"Alrigh', alrigh'! Ten points ter Slytherin as well!"

Draco stuck his nose up at Hagrid and began walking back towards the castle. Hermione followed. That night, they decided to do their night patrol together (normally, they would each patrol half the castle). It would take longer than usual, but that couldn't be helped. It wasn't often that they found somebody out of bed, but today was different.

"Ginny?"

Hermione stopped the frantic redhead. She had been running when they had found her and now that they had stopped her, she looked even more worried than before.

"Oh, Hermione!" She exclaimed. "Have you seen a girl about my height? She's got long black hair, quite pretty – she's Cho's little sister! Madeleine Chang – in Ravenclaw!" Hermione frowned. She didn't even know Cho had a sister.

"The new seeker on the Ravenclaw quidditch team?" Ginny spoke hurriedly, trying to get Hermione to see whom she was talking about. A small part of Hermione's brain whirled into action. _'The quidditch season hasn't even started yet! How am I supposed to know who the new Ravenclaw seeker is?' _

She sighed and shook her head before turning to Draco. "Malfoy, maybe you should go back to your common room now. Ginny can tell me what happened on our way back to the Gryffindor common room."

Draco nodded and said a quick goodnight before heading for the dungeons. The moment he was gone, Ginny immediately launched into her story.

"Well, Madeleine Chang is my best friend. We were sitting outside, just talking, when this Slytherin boy in your year, Callum or something, came and asked if he could speak to Madeleine for a while - he said it was urgent. So, we thought it was something the Professors needed her to know but had just sent that guy to deliver the message. She went with him and I waited for ages, but she never came back."

Ginny looked on the verge of tears. Hermione gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry, Ginny. I'm sure she's fine. If she's not back by tomorrow morning, then we'll tell Professor Dumbledore, but that'll have to wait till tomorrow. It's too late now. You need some sleep and there are still lessons tomorrow."

The two girls soon returned to the Gryffindor common room. They bid each other a goodnight before changing into their nightclothes and going to bed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice was telling Hermione that something was very, very, wrong.

* * *

**Edited Version: _1st August 2005_**


	8. Waking of worries

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-CONFUSED-BY-HER-OWN-STORIES.**

**Disclaimer: **_I own absolutely nothing that appears in the original Harry Potter books. Thank you for your kind attention._

* * *

Chapter Eight: Waking of Worries.

The next morning, Hermione woke with a start as three pairs of hands dragged her out of her bed and onto the cold floor. She groaned and looked at her watch. It was six thirty in the morning – much too early for comfort. She glared at the people who had woken her. Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil and Ginny Weasley all glared back.

"Don't look at me like that, Hermione! I didn't wake you up because I wanted to! Ginny here – (she glared at Ginny) – woke Parvati and I! So that we could help wake _you_ up! So we did." Lavender paused to yawn. "Now Ginny, can we go back to sleep?" Ginny nodded and thanked them as they trudged back to their own beds.

"We have to tell Dumbledore now!" Ginny said as she continued to drag Hermione along the floor.

"Ginny, I'm not even changed yet! Breakfast is at eight not half six! She might show up at breakfast."

"I don't care, I haven't had any sleep. We have to tell Dumbledore!" Ginny cried. With a wave of the Weasley's wand, Hermione was dressed in her school uniform. The two girls broke into a run. "I tried to wait, Hermione! I really did! But she's one of my best friends and I've lost her, just like_ that_. How would you feel with Harry or Ron went missing? Drat! I don't know the password!"

They had arrived in front of stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office.

"It was Rumplestiltskein last week, but they change it every week, don't they?" Hermione said, quite surprised that she wasn't breathless.

Ginny nodded, biting her lip. "Maybe it's . . . Humbug! I heard he liked those."

The gargoyle sprang aside and the two girls climbed the stairs as quickly as they could. They thought that Dumbledore might have been asleep but he was there – along with the rest of the staff at Hogwarts. Hermione and Ginny stood still for a moment as all the adults in the room turned to stare. Hermione smiled awkwardly.

"Professor Dumbledore, we have something urgent to report!" Ginny exclaimed, ignoring the stares they were receiving. Dumbledore gave a nod as a few members of staff stood and exited, each giving the girls a reassuring nod. A select few people were left in the office – Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Hagrid and Professor Hoover.

"Take a seat." Dumbledore gestured to four comfortable armchairs beside Professor Snape. They sat down and were about to explain why they had come, when the door burst open and two desperate boys rushed in.

"Professor Dumbledore, we have something urgent to –

Here, the boy stopped and noticed that there were many other people in the room.

"Take a seat, Mr Haven. You too, Mr Pennyfeather."

They nodded and sat on the two remaining armchairs beside Ginny. One of the boys had scruffy blonde hair – he was the one who had spoken first. The other boy had mousy-brown hair and wore thick glasses. They both looked extremely worried.

"Now, all four of you seem to have something urgent to tell me. Seeing as Miss Granger and Miss Weasley were here first, they may speak first."

Before Hermione even had a chance to open her mouth, Ginny began. "Well, Professor, I was with my friend yesterday – so was Luna, Luna Lovegood – and she went with this Slytherin boy and she never came back. We searched everywhere, Luna checked in the Ravenclaw common room and the dormitory too but we still couldn't find her!"

Dumbledore took his glasses off and wiped them calmly. "And . . . what about you Mr Haven?"

The boy with scruffy blonde hair replied. "Much the same thing as Ginny. Except it was Ben that went with that Slytherin guy." Dumbledore nodded.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" The boy who Hermione assumed to be 'Mr Pennyfeather' asked (rather rudely, she thought).

"They'll be back soon Mr Pennyfeather, I can assure you. Minerva, if you please." Professor McGonagall got up and ushered the four teenagers towards a door that led to another room. The room was small but had a fireplace and some comfortable looking couches and armchairs.

"Do not touch anything and do not go through that door. That leadsto Professor Dumbledore's personal chambers. Do you understand?" Professor McGonagall gave them a warning look, as if to say that there would be consequences if any of them were to disobey. They nodded and she swiftly left the room. Silence filled the air. Hermione held out her hand to the two boys, which they shook.

"I know this is no time for introductions, but still. My name's Hermione Granger - I'm in Gryffindor, and Head Girl this year."

The blonde-haired boy smiled slightly. "Alex Haven. I'm a Hufflepuff, sixth year."

"Yes, and my name's Daniel Pennyfeather." The other boy stated, his glasses sliding further down his nose. "I'm a seventh year, Hufflepuff, and we all know Ginny of course." Ginny smiled as her name was mentioned, while the others sat themselves down.

"So, who's this Ben that went missing?" Hermione asked tentatively. She wanted answers, but didn't want to upset anyone.

"Ben's my twin brother. We were just talking when this boy – I don't know if you know him, Flewington or something – he came and asked for him, said they needed a private chat, so he went. When he didn't come back for ages, we started looking for him but no one had seen him. It was like he disappeared," said Alex, as he stared glumly into the blazing fireplace.

"I really do wonder where Madeleine is." Ginny said. She sat beside Hermione, looking down at her feet. Hermione sighed. There was nothing to do but try and make conversation.

"Do you guys know Madeleine Chang?" Hermione asked.

"She's the quiet one that sits next to me in Charms." Alex replied, nodding. "She doesn't talk much. But she leant me her quill the other day."

"I saw her in the library once," said Daniel, looking thoughtful, "It was a while ago though, and she was with her sister. They looked like they were studying together."

It was then that Hermione suddenly realised something. Madeleine Chang was absolutely nothing like her pretty and popular sister. She was much the opposite, quiet and reserved, and most definitely not the sociable type.

* * *

"This is bad, this is. After that big step our plan took yesterday . . ." Hagrid mumbled, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Are you sure that Miss Chang and Mr Haven will be alright, Albus?" Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"Yes, are you sure we shouldn't send out a search party?" Professor Sprout agreed.

"Do not worry my dear Professors. Wait until breakfast, at least. They should be back by then."

"Albus, is this all part of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's plan?" McGonagall asked worriedly. Dumbledore nodded solemnly.

"I'm afraid so. Our plan has been going well until now, but no matter. We must keep trying. We do not know what he is planning, but Voldemort's plans shall not get in the way of ours."

"His plans are usually very cunning," said Snape, "The problem here is not his plan, but his spy. A good spy would never be found out so quickly, but this spy is not very good at staying hidden."

"Only too true Severus," Professor Hoover agreed, "But Albus, I think you should be getting back to the children now. They must be very worried." Everyone agreed to this, and so the Professors decided to leave Dumbledore to talk to the four teenagers.

Dumbledore entered the room to find the four students sitting quietly by the fire. He did his best to give them a reassuring smile.

"May I ask you a few questions?" He asked, pausing as they nodded. "Who asked for Miss Chang or Mr Haven?"

"Callum." Ginny said.

"Flewington." Alex added.

"Did he say why?" They shook their heads.

"Very well. You may leave for breakfast, everyone else is already there."

* * *

As Hermione sat eating her buttered toast, she noticed that Ginny couldn't stop glancing at the door. The moment Ginny had entered the Great Hall, Luna had rushed up to her and asked her whether she had seen Madeleine and the answer was, unfortunately, no. Madeleine and Ben were still missing. Ginny was getting more and more worked up by the minute. Breakfast had nearly finished and it was ten minutes until lessons would begin when Dumbledore stood and waited for the Hall to quieten.

"Silence! Silence, please! Yesterday, two of our students went missing. Miss Madeleine Chang and Mr Ben Haven have not been seen since yesterday at precisely two thirty-one in the afternoon. If anyone has any idea where they –

Dumbledore stopped suddenly. Everyone turned to see what was going on. The Great Hall doors opened and a blonde-haired boy wearing Hufflepuff robes peered around the door. Hermione presumed that this was Ben, as he was almost identical to Alex. Dumbledore smiled as Hermione heard a loud sigh of relief from the Hufflepuff table.

"And here is Mr Haven now. Do you happen to know where Miss Chang is?" Ben, by now, had seated himself by his brother. He shook his head, while munching on a bit of toast.

"No, Professor. I haven't seen her."

Professor Dumbledore nodded and looked towards the Slytherin table. Hermione did the same. She noticed that Callum wasn't there. She did have her suspicions about that boy. For one thing, he was _much_ too nice to be a Slytherin. Dumbledore turned back to Ben.

"Do you know where you have been, Mr Haven?"

"I just went for a little walk after Callum spoke to me and I accidentally walked into the forest. I think I got lost, but I managed to wander out after a while. I got back to the castle really late last night, and I was so tired I forgot the password, so I slept in the library instead."

Hermione frowned. How could you walk into a forest accidentally? It was pretty big and hard to miss, and for another thing, Hermione and Draco would have seen him in the library when they had been patrolling the castle that night, surely?

"And where is Callum?" Dumbledore continued to question. Ben shrugged and continued to eat. The Great Hall doors burst open and there stood Callum, closely followed by a small black-haired girl. Callum appeared to be quite furious. Hermione noticed something that wasn't there before – a plaster had been stuck on one of Callum's cheeks. Although he seemed to be fairly angry, he smiled the moment he realised that he was being watched. Dumbledore smiled as well.

"Ah, Miss Chang, where have you been?"

Hermione looked at the girl who had entered. She did indeed look much like Cho, with her long black hair, rosy cheeks and fairly good complexion.

"I'm not quite sure, Professor." She began to walk towards the Ravenclaw table, where she took her place next to Luna Lovegood. "Everything seems so . . . hazy, I don't know what happened."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. He gave his students a smile. "Lessons will begin in five minutes! Off you go."

* * *

Transfiguration was the first lesson that day. As Hermione sat in her seat beside Callum, she noticed how silent he was. He seemed to be thinking about something unpleasant – his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes seemed to be glazed over.

"Today, we shall begin using our wands to transform these hedgehogs," Professor McGonagall held one in a gloved hand, "Into plants. We shall then use a reverse spell, to change them back into their original form. Now, I want everyone to take out a piece of parchment and write down everything that I am about to say to you."

The class obeyed as McGonagall continued. She explained that the transfiguring they were to do needed a special wand movement, which mostly consisted of waves, and not flicks. As well as saying the spell, they must also imagine what plant they were to change the hedgehogs into.

"Now, discuss the different types of plants with your partner and write it down on your pieces of parchment. I shall be walking around the room and discussing it with you as well."

Hermione nodded and glanced at Callum. He appeared very bored, his fingers tapping absentmindedly on the table. Hermione wondered if she should ask him about Madeleine and Ben. She was very curious about it, but she didn't know whether it would sound too rude – as though she was intruding in someone's private life. She decided that she would ask him next week, when things had settled down a bit.

"So, what plant do you think the hedgehog might be?" She asked, waiting for Callum's reply. It didn't come. She sighed – she wasn't going to get any work done this lesson.

* * *

Soon it was dinnertime, and Hermione decided that she should take a walk, as she didn't feel that hungry. She found Ginny and Luna sitting beneath a tree, whispering secretly to one another. Hermione decided to join them.

"Is anything wrong, Ginny? Luna?" She asked anxiously as she approached them.

Ginny sighed and patted the grass beside her, gesturing for Hermione to sit down, which she did. "It's nothing really . . . just . . . Madeleine's been acting really weird – ever since she's come back. We don't know what's wrong with her though. She used to be shy, but now . . . she's quiet and all, but almost too much. Do you know something? She ignored us all through our lessons today, which is strange for anyone to do! There's something wrong, I know it."

Luna nodded eagerly. "It's like she's a completely different person. Maybe some creature took away her mind and replaced it with something else . . ."

Although Hermione highly doubted that Luna's theory was true, she could sense that there was indeed something wrong. The sudden disappearance, the sudden change in personality, and everything happening overnight – there was bound to be something wrong, but what was it? She had problems to deal with herself, like why her stomach felt twisted and out of place whenever she was around Draco, and why she felt her ears turn red when he smirked at her.

She sighed, when suddenly Luna frowned and pointed at a couple that she saw in front of the castle gates.

Hermione and Ginny looked in the direction that Luna was pointing in. The pair gasped as they watched what was happening in front of them. Hermione didn't know why it hurt so much, but it did and she couldn't stop the tears from rushing to her eyes as she stood and walked away from Ginny and Luna. What she saw was a boy - Draco Malfoy - and a girl - Madeleine Chang – kissing, just outside the castle of Hogwarts.

* * *

'_Hermione, get yourself together. Malfoy means nothing to you. Nothing. Remember that, Hermione – you're better than this.' _

That night, Hermione couldn't get to sleep. She had walked calmly into the castle, trying to act as though nothing was wrong. Ginny and Luna had shouted after her, and she had merely shouted back that she needed a walk to get that disgusting scene out of her mind. When alone, she had begun to let the tears fall freely and eventually she had stopped. As hurriedly as she could, she did her night patrol before returning to Gryffindor tower, where she was safely away from the boy that she didn't wish to see.

Hermione cleared her mind, deciding that there were some things that were best forgotten – including her growing feelings for a certain blonde. She hit her head against the pillow. Yes, she would stop thinking about him, and about how she felt. Just maybe, she would stop thinking altogether.

* * *

Draco turned over in his four-poster bed. He felt confused – to say the least. Just then, that Chang girl had kissed him. Madeleine Chang was her name or something – the girl that had been missing before. They had bumped into one another when he had been trying to find Hermione so that he could question her about Flewington (Callum Flewington was, in Draco's opinion, a highly suspicious character. He had wanted to ask her if she knew anything about his disappearance. After all, they worked together in Transfiguration).

And then she had kissed him.

It had surprised him; but it wasn't the fact that she had kissed him, after all, he knew that he was irresistible. What had surprised him was the fact that he enjoyed it. Possibly because the Chang girl was very attractive - just the kind of girl he usually went for, but if that was so, then why was he so . . . surprised?

* * *

**Edited Version: _3rd August 2005_**


	9. Confusion

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-OFFICIALLY-OBSESSED-WITH-FANFICTION.**

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that appears in the (soon to be) seven Harry Potter books. I hope that is clear._

* * *

Chapter Nine: Confusion.

"Get into pairs now! We need the strength of at least two people to lift these Calderoone plants! Now carry one to your table and draw a carefully labelled diagram of it. When you're finished, put it on my desk here and I shall mark it for the next lesson." Professor Sprout shouted as she watched the students pair themselves up. Hermione looked around: she had no one is pair up with – as usual. She sighed and was about to tell Professor Sprout, when she heard a small cough from behind her. She turned around.

"Hermione!" Daniel Pennyfeather – one of the boys she had met while in Dumbledore's office – nodded in her direction. "If you don't mind, could you be my partner? I need to talk."

Hermione smiled and nodded, before following Daniel towards the back of the line for the Calderoone plants. It wasn't until after they had carried their plant to an empty table that Daniel began to speak.

"So, you know Ben came back yesterday morning?" He said as he began to sketch the Calderoone plant.

"Yes . . ." Hermione replied while trying to concentrate on her work.

"Well, since he came back he's been acting different. He's usually quite relaxed, loud and adventurous – much like Alex, but he's been much too quiet and uptight since he came back. I'm rather worried but Alex is just angry with him. He's been trying to ignore him today and I'm rather surprised that Ben isn't doing anything to try and stop him." Daniel sighed and adjusted his glasses. "They're brothers, after all, they can't possibly stay mad at each other for long."

"That's like Ginny, Luna and Madeleine. Ginny and Luna say that she seems like a completely different person since she came back. And yesterday, we saw her and –

Hermione abruptly stopped. She didn't want to remember what happened yesterday. She had heard rumours that morning about Draco and Madeleine. People were saying that they were now officially 'going out', and she had assumed that this was true as all the Slytherin boys were nudging Draco before looking over to the Ravenclaw table. She hoped that Daniel didn't notice her awkwardness.

"Yes, I heard the rumours this morning and I know that Draco Malfoy is, supposedly, _good looking_, but he has a simply awful attitude. I didn't know that she had such bad taste."

All Hermione could do was nod. She didn't want Daniel to know her growing feelings for Draco. She had woken up early that morning and realised that she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was as though he was haunting her, never leaving her alone. She couldn't work without him being in her thoughts. It was an awful feeling, but she couldn't control it. Why did she have to feel this way anyway? She still didn't understand why seeing Draco with someone else hurt her so much, but she knew that deep inside, she didn't really _want_ to know.

Herbology soon ended and everyone handed his or her sketch in to Professor Sprout. Hermione put away her belongings before heading straight for her Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

* * *

Draco was in his History of Magic class, daydreaming, as Professor Binns droned on about the history of an enchanted potato. He remembered his conversation yesterday with Callum Flewington. 

_Draco stormed into the Slytherin common room, looking flustered. That Chang girl, she'd kissed him, but why? He'd done nothing to stop her – he was usually the one in control, but this time, he had let a little woman take control over him. That was unusual, to say the least. _

"_What's the matter Draco?" Draco swiftly turned to find Callum standing behind, looking concerned. Draco wasn't fooled. _

"_None of your business, Flewington." _

"_Girly trouble I presume?"_

_Draco gave him a suspicious stare. "How did you know?"_

"_Guess it's true then." Callum laughed, sitting down as he did so. "Sorry I can't help you. Got a lot to organise you see."_

"_Oh, yeah? When did you get so busy then?" _

_Callum smiled slyly and beckoned Draco to sit down beside him. Draco cautiously did so. Callum leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "Well, you won't believe this, but someone fell for Saint Potter's friend, that Hermione Granger, my Transfiguration partner, you know?" _

_Draco frowned. Could this someone be him? But, he hadn't fallen for her; of course he hadn't. That was impossible – almost. _

"_Yeah, I know, quite unbelievable," Callum nodded, knowing that Draco was speechless, "But, this guy - I can't tell you who he is - he asked me to do him a favour. To set him up on a blind date with Hermione and I can tell you, she was more than happy to agree to it. Must be getting desperate!" He laughed. _

_Draco suddenly felt something surge through him, something that he would have thought to be anger. Hermione was going on a blind date? She simply could not. Going on blind dates was not something that Hermione Granger should do. It just, wasn't. Draco grunted. _

"_But anyway, why would you care about her? I saw how badly that Madeleine Chang flirted with you. If she asked you out, would you say yes?"_

_Draco shrugged. "Mind your own business, Flewington." _

_With that, he had gone to bed. Little did he know that the next morning he would be answering 'yes' to a date with Madeleine Chang._

Draco groaned quietly to himself as Professor Binns continued his speech about certain other enchanted vegetables. He didn't even know why he said yes. All he knew was that there was no good reason why he should say _no_. After all, he was attracted to her – she was cute after all – and shewasn't like one of those Gryffindors.

_'No, nothing like Granger.' _Draco thought before closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. Lately, he had been thinking about _her_ a lot and he didn't quite know why.

'_Draco, she's a mudblood, that's all.'_ He reminded himself. '_But don't act horrible towards her. You still have to live through those detentions . . .' _

He slammed his head on his desk and decided that taking a nap would definitely do him some good.

* * *

The next day was Thursday, which meant another detention with Draco Malfoy. Hermione groaned at the thought. She just couldn't deny the fact that him having a girlfriend hurt her and made her mad. It would feel awkward for her to talk to him and she had successfully avoided any conversations with him so far. But being alone with him tonight would be unavoidable. 

It was a sunny afternoon and everyone was heading towardstheir next lesson. Hermione suddenly realised that she would have to see Draco again before their detention that evening, for it was time for Care of Magical Creatures. She wondered what dangerous and life threatening creatures Hagrid had in stall for them this time. She arrived early, as usual, and waited patiently for the rest of the class. Her stomach tensed as she saw Draco arrive with Crabbe and Goyle at his side.

Hagrid appeared behind his hut and beckoned for the class to follow him. He led them into a small clearing on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"Now, this 'ere beauty is known as a winged unicorn," said Hagrid as he gently stroked the male (the one that Hermione knew was Saviour), "They're rare, they are. We're lucky enough ter find two o' these in our very own forest, but we still've no idea how they got there. They say that if yer guess their names righ' yer'll be blessed."

Hagrid beamed at Hermione as Hope joined Saviour beside Hagrid. The girls were fascinated and mesmerised by the beauty of the beasts, whilst the boys merely mumbled about how Hagrid had gotten 'soft'.

"Did you guess their names correctly then?" Pansy Parkinson asked as she stared at Hope, her eyes wide with amazement.

"I didn' but Hermione here an' Draco over there did." There were a few gasps around the crowd of students as all heads turned to stare at them.

"You mean my Dwakie-poo is blessed?" Pansy screamed as her and some other Slytherin girls giggled animatedly. Hermione sighed. The Slytherin girls were an embarrassment to the female population. They cared more about a Slytherin being blessed, than they did about the unicorns.

"Hey Parkinson!" sneered Crabbe, "Don't let Chang hear you! She can be lethal when she wants to be!"

The Slytherin girls immediately stopped giggling – giving Crabbe a hateful glare. The Slytherin boys burst out laughing, all except Draco. He clenched his fists and would have liked nothing more than to punch Crabbe's face in (to put it simply). Hermione suddenly felt very sick.

"So what are their names?" Lavender Brown asked eagerly.

"The male one's called Saviour, and the female one is called Hope." Hermione stated. The girls around her squealed in delight as though they were the most wonderful names in the world.

"Righ' now, calm down all o' yer. We still got the res' o' the lesson!" Hagrid called, bringing a halt to the noise all around him. Hermione sighed once again as Hagrid continued. For once, she didn't feel like listening.

Before long, it was almost four thirty. Hermione ambled along the corridors, not quite sure what to do. She had detention soon and there was really nowhere she could go. It wasn't long before she found herself entering the girls' bathroom and sitting on Moaning Myrtle's toilet. It was quiet and she felt at ease being alone. It gave her time to think properly.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Moaning Myrtle cried dramatically as she glided into the cubicle.

"I won't be here for long, Myrtle. I just wanted to go somewhere different so I'd like to stay here for a minute or two – if that's quite all right with you." Hermione added. She had been heading for the library, but her feet had somehow led her here instead. She wondered if that was such a wise choice after all.

Myrtle snorted but glided away, only to return a few seconds later. "Have you seen a girl around lately?" She screamed into Hermione's ear.

Hermione rubbed her ear as Myrtle hovered around her. "There have been lots of girls around, yes . . . me being one of them."

Myrtle glared at her. "That's not what I meant." She paused. "She's got black hair and she normally comes in here. Pitying me, I suspect, but speaking to me all the same."

"Well," Hermione began, frowning, "There are lots of girls with black hair too . . . you're simply going to have to be more precise Myrtle."

"Her name's Madeleine," Myrtle sighed angrily, looking disappointed in Hermione, "There's not much I can say to describe her."

Madeleine Chang. It seemed to Hermione that everyone was talking about her, whether they liked her or not. It was beginning to bug her.

"You could say I know her," Hermione sniffed, "Why do you ask?"

"I told you," Myrtle screeched, gliding around the empty bathroom, "She comes in here every so often. Tells me things." Myrtle paused and saw Hermione looking at her questioningly.

"Although, it's not like I care." She added.

"Well, she's fine, still around," said Hermione, "I don't know her too well, but I suppose she's hanging around her boyfriend so she doesn't have time to come."

"A boyfriend?" Myrtle shrieked. "It was only the other day that she told me she had a crush!"

"Yes, well, there you are." Hermione sighed. She didn't know whether she was jealous of Madeleine, or merely depressed. It was hard to tell the difference.

"Personally, I never did like the name Benjamin." Myrtle cried, before gliding through another cubicle door.

Hermione frowned. "Benjamin?"

"Yes," said Myrtle, "That's the name of her boyfriend, don't you know. Or at least, that was the name of her crush. She told me so herself."

Hermione's frown deepened. Benjamin was the name of Madeleine's crush? But if that was so then why was she going out with Draco? She glanced down at her watch to check on the time, only to realise that it was four forty-five. She said a hurried goodbye to Myrtle before leaving the bathroom and sprinting towards the library.

* * *

Hermione rushed into the library, almost falling as she did so. Running had never been her strong point. Trying her hardest to catch her breath, Hermione looked around the – what seemed to be – empty library. Draco wasn't there. 

'_Maybe it's been cancelled . . .'_ Hermione thought.

"Didn't know that you would break the rules just to get out of seeing me, Granger."

Draco appeared from behind a bookcase, his hair neatly gelled back as it always was. She shot a glare at him.

"I got a little caught up and lost track of time, that's all. Don't think you're so important, Malfoy," She spat at him, finally breathing more slowly.

He smirked and let out a little laugh. "Look Granger, do you want to know what task is or not?" She nodded, folding her arms across her chest stubbornly.

"You'll like this one, Granger." He laughed. "Madam Pomfrey needed someone to baby-sit her niece and nephew and guess which two students they chose for the job?"

Hermione frowned. _Babysitting_?

"Right," She said slowly, "We should go to the Hospital Wing then - to pick them up, shouldn't we?"

Draco sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Honestly Granger, if I'd have waited for you, then I'd be waiting until dawn. They're right behind you." Hermione swiftly turned and saw two tiny children staring up at her. They were holding hands and the little girl was giggling while the little boy was sucking a lollipop.

"Hi Granger!" The little girl cried, smiling and waving as she did so. Hermione tried not to laugh. She knelt down so that she was the same size as them and found that Draco had joined them. He towered above them all.

"My name's Hermione, not Granger." She said, laughing slightly. The little girl looked at her, confused.

"But he was calling you Granger . . ." She mumbled. The little boy nodded. Their big Bambi-like eyes made Hermione melt at their gaze. She ruffled the boy's chocolate brown hair.

"Yes, well, _he_ calls me that, but everyone else calls me Hermione. So, can you call me that instead?" They nodded obediently.

"But _Hermy-own-knee_, it's so hard to say your name! Can we call you something else?" The little girl asked. Hermione gave them a big smile.

"You can call me . . . Sis!" She said happily. The pair nodded again before turning their large brown eyes onto Draco.

"So is your name Malfoy or is that just what Sis calls you?" The girl asked innocently. Draco stared at her blankly. He didn't particularly like little kids. They were small and weak, unimportant in his eyes. He grunted in response.

"His name's Draco. He doesn't like to talk too much." Hermione said, glaring at him.

"Auntie Poppy said that we need to go to one of your common rooms . . ." The little boy said quietly. He had finished his lollipop and the stick had automatically vanished.

"Well, in a minute, I'm going to go over there and have a little talk with Draco." Hermione smiled sweetly at them. "But first, what are your names?"

"My name's Lisa and this is my brother Billy!" Hermione nodded and swiftly turned, her smile fading rapidly as she set her eyes on Draco. Before another word could be spoken, Hermione took hold of Draco's ear, and began dragging him behind a nearby shelf.

"Let go, Granger! My ear isn't made of plastic you know!" Draco moaned, rubbing his sore ear.

"Look Malfoy, I don't know which common room we should be going to, but I suggest Gryffindor. It's much more comfortable than a dungeon and the people in Slytherin would probably scare the life out of those children. I know you probably hate children but please, at least try to talk to one of them. How do you ever expect to raise a family if you hate children so much?" Hermione questioned. Draco grunted.

"Whatever."

When they got back to Lisa and Billy, Hermione and Draco found them rolling on the floor, laughing wildly.

"What's so funny?" said Draco, sounding annoyed.

"It's just that . . ." The little girl giggled as her brother continued to laugh, "Hehe - my mummy - haha - always pulls – hehe - daddy's ear!" Lisa spluttered before continuing to laugh.

Hermione and Draco stared at them blankly until they finally calmed down. Lisa took Hermione's hand and smiled up at her. "So where are we going, Sis?"

The seventeen-year-old tapped her nose. "You just wait and see."

She squeezed Lisa's hand and held her other hand out to Billy, who shook his head.

"I don't want to interrupt your girly chats. I want to go with Draco!" He gave Hermione a big smile and clutched Draco's pale hand before he could say anything. "Okay Sis! Lead the way!"

Hermione nodded and tried her hardest not to laugh. The look on Draco's face was enough to make her snigger for a week.

* * *

**Edited Version: _11th August 2005_**


	10. More about Madeleine

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-CAN-MAKE-ANYTHING-SOUND-COMPLICATED.**

**Disclaimer: **_Nothing that appears in the original Harry Potter books (written by J.K.Rowling) belongs to little old me. Now please read and enjoy (and maybe review)! Or leave me alone._

* * *

Chapter Ten: More about Madeleine.

"Oh please! You've seen me go in before!" Hermione whispered urgently.

"I'm sorry," replied the Fat Lady, "But I still need the password."

Feeling slightly grumpy, Hermione growled something (most likely rude) under her breath as she leaned closer to the Fat Lady and whispered the password. She didn't exactly want any Slytherins barging in on any of the Gryffindors until the next time they changed the password.

"Stay here. They might not be too pleased to see Draco Malfoy in their common room." Hermione said as she crawled through the portrait hole. Normally, the common room would be full of people talking and studying – and today was no different. Hermione saw only two beanbags by the fireplace that weren't occupied.

"Excuse me!" She shouted above the noise. Everyone stopped what he or she were doing and looked towards her. Hermione could feel her ears turning red. "I was wondering . . . if any of you would mind if some people came into the common room. They aren't exactly Gryffindors, so I just thought I'd ask."

There were murmurs before everyone nodded (however reluctantly) and most of them returned to what they had been doing before. Hermione beckoned them in. Lisa came through the portrait hole first and received many squeals of delight. Next came Billy, who received some more squeals and exclamations. Hermione went outside and saw that Draco was refusing to move.

She gave him a disappointing look. He sighed. "Look, they'll probably end up punching me until I'm half dead anyway. I'd rather die looking pretty, thank you very much."

"Don't be stupid. Come on!" Hermione took his sweaty hand and dragged him inside. There were gasps around the room and a loud crash as Ron stood up, his face almost as red as his hair, his wizard chess set scattered on the floor.

"What is he doing here?" He exclaimed, looking from Hermione to Draco and then back again.

"Ron!" Harry pushed him back down onto his seat and leaned closer towards him. "Don't blow it now! Remember Dumbledore's plan? Voldemort is already wrecking it! We can't help ruin it too!"

Ron glared at Draco before using his wand to recover the scattered chess pieces and returning to his game. The rest of the Gryffindors, however, were still staring. Hermione guided Draco to the two beanbags by the fireplace and collapsed onto one of them. Billy and Lisa followed them and sat on the floor. She looked around as the other Gryffindors continued to stare. Draco stood, looking uncomfortable despite his best efforts.

"Well don't just stand there!" She hissed. "Sit down! And what exactly are the rest of you staring at?" Hermione glared at the rest of the Gryffindors. Immediately, they looked away, as though embarrassed to have been caught staring. She was glad to see that Draco had obeyed her as well; he was now sitting on the beanbag beside her.

Hermione gave another smile to the two children. "So, what are you doing at Hogwarts?"

"Mummy got sick and daddy's on a work trip so there's no one to look after us, so Uncle Dumbly said that Auntie Poppy could look after our mummy and someone here could look after us." Lisa said as Billy brought out a huge bag labelled '_Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Bean: All In One Lollipops._'

"Would you like one, Sis? Draco?" asked Billy politely. Hermione nodded as she took a lollipop and unwrapped it carefully. The flavour was foul, but she smiled all the same.

"Can we hand these out please?" Lisa asked, using her big brown eyes to plead secretly.

"Of course."

Lisa and Billy gave a shout of joy before beginning to hand out the lollipops. Hermione, meanwhile, turned to Draco, who happened to be staring at her.

"What?" She asked, wriggling under his gaze.

"Just timing how long it takes you to spit that thing out." Draco smirked. Hermione gave him a rather sarcastic smile, before savouring her lollipop. Draco was right. It didn't taste all that nice. They sat in silence as they watched the two small children scurry around the common room.

"Aren't they just adorable?" Draco heard Ginny Weasley exclaim. He grunted at the thought. To him, children should be taught to be ruthless with people, to gain their trust only so that they could take advantage of it, to get what they want no matter what the costs, just like his father had taught him when he was small. His father hated small children (they reminded him of house-elves) and the only reason he had been patient with Draco was because he needed an heir to the Malfoy name. Draco looked at the children once again. They would probably grow up to be beautiful, nice, and intelligent, a typical _Mary-Sue_. He shuddered at the thought.

By the time Lisa and Billy had returned, they were exhausted. They soon fell asleep beside the fire.

"They look even cuter when they're asleep." Hermione whispered, peering at them quietly.

"Mmm." Draco mumbled in reply. He, too, was watching them sleep.

"I can't see how you don't like children." Hermione said.

Draco shrugged. "I never said I didn't like them. I just think that they're weak and too stupid to know their own good."

"Yes, well, they are," said Hermione, "And that's precisely why you need to protect them, tell them how much you care. Don't forget, we were all children once."

"Mmm." Draco mumbled again.

"Ah, Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger! I thought you'd be here. No need for you to do the night patrols tonight. I have done them for you." Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she strode through the portrait hole. Lisa opened her eyes sleepily.

"Hello." She yawned, slowly getting up and shaking her brother awake.

McGonagall looked down at them both. "Lisa, Billy, it is time for me to lead you to your rooms. But, before we go . . ."

Lisa and Billy nodded. They smiled up at Hermione and Draco, before happily calling out, "Thank you for having us!"

With a wave, the two followed Professor McGonagall out of the Gryffindor common room. All was quiet. The Gryffindors had already retreated to their dormitories and the only two left in the common room were Draco and Hermione. They stood awkwardly for a moment.

"Well, goodnight then." Hermione muttered, pushing Draco towards the portrait hole. "It's nice to know that you can be . . . bearable, sometimes, Malfoy."

With one last shove, Draco fell out of the Gryffindor common room, the portrait swung shut, and the entrance to the Gryffindor's territory was closed. Hermione sighed goodnight to herself before heading to the girl's dormitory, preparing herself for another hard day's work in the morning.

That following morning, Hermione received many stares and whispers from her fellow Gryffindors. She knew what they were thinking - all of them. They were wondering why someone as 'Slytherin' as Draco Malfoy had entered a room full of Gryffindors.

'_At least the don't know about the detentions.'_ Hermione thought, making her way to the end of the Gryffindor table, where there was an empty space. She had had a lovely time yesterday and she wasn't going to let anyone make her forget that. Glancing at her watch, she noticed that it was time for the first quidditch match of the school year – Slytherin versus Gryffindor. She didn't feel like going to watch it - she had never been one of those girls who particularly enjoyed watching quidditch. She would normally go just to watch Harry. But that was different now.

She headed for the library but bumped into someone on the way.

"Miss Granger," said Professor Hoover, nodding happily at Hermione, who returned her friendly gesture, "I see you're not at the quidditch match."

Hermione smiled slightly. "Yes, I wanted to finish one of my potions' essays, so I decided against it. I'm sure I'll find the score out later on in the common room."

"Oh. I see."

Hermione gave her another half-hearted smile before making her way around the Professor and towards the library once again. "But Miss Granger!" Hermione stopped and turned around to find Hoover staring at her with the utmost interest. "You seem troubled. Is there anything I could help you with?"

Hermione looked blankly at the Professor. There _was_ something that had been troubling her, but it had been doing so for a while. She knew there was no real answer and so she had not thought about it.

Hoover took a step forward. "Is there anything you happen to know about the disappearance, and return, of Madeleine Chang?"

Hermione's eyes widened instantly. It had been the whole Chang epidemic that had been getting her into a spot of bother. She thinned her lips. "I don't know anything about it, Professor. But there are some things about her that I find highly suspicious." Hermione paused, making sure she used her words carefully. "I think that if you'd like to know something more then you should speak to her friends, Ginny Weasley or Luna Lovegood, or maybe even Moaning Myrtle."

Professor Hoover looked thoughtful for a moment, before giving Hermione a big smile. "Thank you Miss Granger, you have been most helpful. I shall see you in my next Defence Against The Dark Arts lesson." The Professor turned and continued along the corridor, as she would have done if she had not stopped.

Hermione frowned. Had the Professor been questioning her? No, surely not. She was a trustworthy student and had been for many years. They wouldn't. She gave a heavy sigh before continuing on her journey to the library, thinking nothing more of the incident. Little did she know, that Professor Hoover was heading towards Dumbledore's office, for soon it would be time to capture and question Lord Voldemort's spy.

* * *

"We lost. And worst of all, I lost my two best friends as well!"

Hermione's eyes widened with surprise. "How? What happened, Ginny?"

Ginny gave a long and frustrated sigh. "Well, when it was announced that Malfoy caught the snitch, Madeleine obviously congratulated _him_ and she didn't even say anything to me! No consolation, no 'better luck next time', _not anything_! And Luna stuck by her so now I'm all by myself! Ginny the loner! That's me!" Ginny huffed. "She used to be so different, so . . . innocent, but now she's just . . . just . . ."

Ginny gave a cry and laid her head in her hands.

"Well Ginny, you always have me." Hermione said, resting a hand on Ginny's shoulder.

"I suppose that's true." Ginny smiled meekly and began to make her way towards the girls' dormitory. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to Hermione.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Hermione, that Flewington guy, he told me to tell you that you're meeting that mystery boy under the oak tree at eight o'clock in the morning, when everyone's still eating breakfast. Lord knows why I'm actually being his messenger . . ."

Hermione frowned.

"I don't know what he was talking about. But he said that you would know when I told you." Ginny paused. "And he said that if you didn't, I should mention something about Saturday and a 'deal'. I think that's what he said. Anyway, I won't be nosey and delve into your personal life. Goodnight!"

Hermione watched as Ginny left the room. The deal – Callum must have meant the blind date. She had forgotten all about it and if she had not agreed to it already, she probably wouldn't have bothered to go at all.

* * *

**Edited Version: _14th August 2005_**


	11. The Blind Date and a Ball?

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY DELIRIOUSLY-HAPPY-GIRL-FOR-NO-PARTICULAR-REASON.**

**Disclaimer: **_I own absolutely nothing original (and when I say original, I don't mean the thing's _I've _invented, I mean J.K.Rowling's creations. They're what I call original)._

* * *

Chapter Eleven: The Blind Date . . . and a Ball?

Hermione leant against the oak tree at precisely eight o'clock that Saturday. She was not in a particularly good mood and she didn't really want to be there, but she was not the sort of person to forget a promise. Her feelings for Draco were far too much to deal with already and she needed the free time to think them over (and convince herself that they were nothing more than _friendly_ feelings).

'_Where is he? I don't want to be waiting out here all day. There's better things to do and better places to be.' _Hermione thought to herself. She looked around – not a person was in site. Suddenly a slight rustle of leaves could be heard and a boy with scruffy blonde hair appeared from behind a nearby bush, holding a rather large bouquet of red roses. Hermione was stunned as he grinned at her.

Her eyes widened. _'Is that Alex? Or . . . Ben?'_ Hermione panicked and her eyes searched the Hogwarts grounds for something else to focus on.

"These are for you, Hermione." He smiled and held the roses out to her, while she merely blinked at them. She smiled awkwardly and took the flowers.

"Why, thank you. You shouldn't have. Really."

"It was a pleasure to get them for you." He gave her another huge grin, before picking leaves out of his blonde hair. Hermione smiled politely back. There was silence as the two stood in front of the oak tree, both standing a fair distance away from one another.

"I don't know if you know my twin brother Alex or not, but I'm not him! In case you were wondering. Erm, my name's Ben Haven. Callum set us up, remember?"

She nodded, the polite smile not daring to falter for a second. She noticed that his eyes were a dark blue. Pretty, but not the sort she liked.

"Yeah, of course I remember. That's why I'm here, I guess."

Silence again. It was an awkward silence, a silence you often found when there was nothing to be said.

"Well, will you then?" Ben asked as his cheeks turned a bright red.

"Will I what?" Hermione asked quizzically. She kept her eyes on the lake, not daring to look. She didn't have enough courage to do that.

"Well, you know . . ." Ben stared at his feet and fidgeted. "Be with me?"

Hermione had obviously been expecting this. Nevertheless, she couldn't help the blood rushing to her cheeks. A boy (a rather handsome one at that) was asking her to 'be with him'. Ben looked nervous. Hermione began to ponder.

'_He probably thinks I'm going to say no . . .' _

'_Well, aren't you?'_

'_Why should I? He is kind of cute, I guess, and he doesn't seem like a bad person. Maybe I'll grow feelings for him.'_

'_Are you mad? What about your feelings for Malfoy?' _

'_What about my feelings for Malfoy? I don't care about him! Certainly not! Humph, I'm going to say yes, just to prove it!'_

"Well?" Ben asked, peering at Hermione with his large blue eyes.

Hermione smiled. "Erm – yes, of course I'll . . . be with you."

Ben grinned broadly. "Well, do you want to come eat breakfast with me? We better get going before all the food's gone!" All Hermione could do was nod, as Ben took her hand in his and began to pull her towards the Hogwarts castle and into the Great Hall.

Meanwhile, a certain Professor Dumbledore stood by his window, watching his two students. He gave a small smile. "Indeed Voldemort's plan is good,' he said, turning to Fawkes, "But it is certainly not as good as ours."

Dumbledore took a letter (that he had written earlier) from his desk and handed it to Fawkes, who took it in his beak and waited patiently for Dumbledore's instructions.

"Fawkes, take this letter to Miss Cho Chang at her modelling agency and make sure that you do not get followed or intercepted, do you understand?"

Fawkes flapped his magnificent wings and flew out of the open window, starting his journey towards '_Mademoiselle Suzi's modelling agency for youthful witches of all races'_. Dumbledore watched Fawkes and a sigh escaped from his lips. He was confident that his plan would indeed be more successful than Voldemort's – but one could never be sure.

"Only fate can decide if this plan will succeed or fail." Dumbledore said solemnly. "While Fawkes is away, I guess I shall have to start the other part of the plan." Quietly, he descended the stairs, leaving his office in darkness.

* * *

Hermione read the note pinned to the notice board in the Gryffindor common room. It was from Professor McGonagall and must have been pinned on there earlier, as she was certain that it hadn't been there this morning. It read:

'_To all Gryffindor students,_

_There will be an **ice ball this Monday**. We know it is of short notice but we hope that you shall all attend. However, **it is optional**, students may choose to attend or not. All students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade Village tomorrow (Sunday) to buy whatever they may need for the ball and **muggle ice skates shall be placed in the trunks – free of charge**. You shall be wearing the skates with the clothing of your choice. All other houses shall be there and we advise you to stay inside after noon today, as we shall be making preparations. It is suggested that you have a **date to accompany you**, as there shall be slow dances on ice. Note that both muggle music and wizard music will be played on the evening._

_**The ball will start at five o'clock, after dinner.** _

_We will wait until quarter past five for everyone to arrive. **Students shall wait in the Entrance Hall.** Those who do not know how to skate may enter the Great Hall, where they shall receive a potion from Professor Snape that enables them to skate for one night – and one night only. We look forward to seeing you there. _

_Signed,_

_Professor M. McGonagall_

_Deputy Head Mistress.'_

Hermione frowned. _'Monday? Does this mean I don't need to go to my detention with Malfoy?' _Hermione decided to ask Professor McGonagall, and so she left the common room and made her way to the staff room. She soon arrived outside the mahogany door and, knocking three times, she waited. The door opened slowly, revealing a tired looking Snape.

"Shouldn't you be at lunch, Miss Granger?" He drawled, looking not too happy to see her. She glanced at her watch. It was one and lunch would be just about over by the time she made her way to the Great Hall. She looked back up at Snape, who was a good deal taller than her.

"I was looking for Professor McGonagall, Sir."

Snape nodded and gestured for Hermione to come in. It seemed that it was only Snape and McGonagall in the staff room – as well as a certain blonde-haired boy known by the name of Draco Malfoy. She glared at him as she sat down and he gladly returned it.

"Mr Malfoy . . . care to start?"

Snape eyed Draco as he began to talk. "I was just wondering Professor, does the ice ball mean that me and Granger's detention is cancelled for the Monday?"

"Yes, it certainly does." McGonagall replied, taking a long drink from her teacup. Draco smirked triumphantly, thanked the Professors and headed to the door. Hermione, realising that Draco had asked the question for her, thanked the Professors for their time and followed him out. As she closed the door behind her, she was quite surprised to find that Draco was leaning against the wall – presumably waiting for her.

"Don't be so shocked, Granger. It's only gentlemen-like of me to escort a lady – if you can call yourself that." He smirked.

"Whatever." Hermione said. The two began to walk down the corridor. "So . . . How are things going with you and Madeleine?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest?" He asked. Hermione didn't reply. They continued to walk. "It's going fine."

Hermione looked at him and saw a scowl on his face. She had heard of Draco Malfoy and his 'dating skills'. But his relationship with Madeleine didn't seem to be anywhere near as exciting as the stories that had been told. Hermione decided to question him a little more.

"Fine, eh?" She gave him a suspicious look. "Not brilliant, or fantastic? Really, Malfoy, I expected so much more of you. It certainly doesn't sound fine."

"Well, why do you suddenly want to know all the personal details of my love life, Granger? It isn't as if you of all people would care." Draco said, scowling more. Madeleine seemed clingy, much like Pansy Parkinson, and he didn't particularly like girls of that sort. She was different to how he thought she would be.

"Well, it seems to me that you're having a rather bad influence on her," stated Hermione, lifting her nose in the air in a rather pompous fashion, "She's just had a row with Ginny, you know, over _you_ as a matter of fact. And you don't even seem to care about her that much."

Draco glared at the Gryffindor. "If you must know, she reminds me a little too much of those little dolls my mother used to have. If I wanted a toy then I'd go out and buy one. Seeing as it interests you so much, you might like to know that I'm planning to end it soon, so if you see her you might as well tell her not to give up_ everything_ for me, okay?"

They stopped in front of the Fat Lady's portrait and she let out a gasp. Draco frowned. _He_ didn't even know that he was going to be ending it soon. He hadn't meant to say anything like that at all. It had just . . . slipped out.

"Tell her yourself, you pig!" Hermione cried. "I'm not helping you do your dirty work!"

"Don't put words in my mouth Granger! I never _asked_ you to do anything for me. But now that you've been nosey-ing around in my life, it's only fair to let me have a go." Draco smirked. "How are things going with that guy . . . Joe? I heard from some of my fellow Slytherins that you've finally bagged yourself a boy." He snorted. "I doubt you can keep him for long."

Hermione let out a bitterly sarcastic laugh. "His name is Ben. And it's going fine. Just slowly."

He snorted. "Slowly?"

"Yes, _slowly. _But I like things slow so that's no problem at all! As a matter of fact, he's already given me something, and I only met him this morning." Draco raised an eyebrow as Hermione stuck her tongue out at him. It was childish, but that was all Hermione could think of doing. The flowers from Ben were a lovely present, absolutely _lovely_. Hermione muttered the password quietly to the Fat Lady and stepped through the portrait hole, leaving Draco to himself. She was quite surprised to find only Harry and Ron, talking quietly beside the fire. The two boys looked at her. Ron began to speak.

"We'd like to talk to you, Hermione. If that's all right with you."

She gave them a suspicious look, before nodding and stepping closer towards them. "What is it? I'm not really in the mood to talk right now, let alone be questioned." She didn't enjoy, or want, to appear rude to either Ron or Harry (especially since they had not spoken for a while), but it was the after effect of speaking to someone like Draco.

"Well, we heard about you and that guy from Hufflepuff . . ." Harry said cautiously.

"Yeah, and if you ask me, I don't think he's anywhere near good enough for you." Ron said.

Hermione gave him a cold stare, and stiffly replied, "No one asked." She saw Harry and Ron glance at one another. She sighed. "I know what you're trying to tell me. Be careful, look out, I don't know him . . . but that's why I'm going to _try _to get to know him. He seems like a decent person. And I've met his brother, and he's very nice, so he can't be that much different. Oh, it's not like I'm dating Malfoy or something."

Harry smiled, "If you say so, Hermione. You know we trust you."

"Yeah well, we wanted to say something else too," mumbled Ron, "We just wanted to . . ."

". . . Apologise." Harry finished for him. "For not being there for you when you needed us. We want to say that it's not that we don't want to, it's just that there's something stopping us . . . a secret too secret to be spoken about – especially here." Harry's face was solemn and almost expressionless. Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry interrupted her. "I'm sure that you'll find out what it is soon. And we hope that you won't be mad at us."

Hermione smiled at them. It was nice to know that there was a reason why they had been ignoring her (although she didn't know this reason). She gave them a nod and climbed up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. The two boys watched as she left the common room.

"I'm glad Dumbledore finally let us tell her something." Ron said as soon as they were sure that Hermione was out of earshot.

"It's a shame we still have to hide things from her though." Harry remarked. "Keeping secrets from a friend . . . that's not supposed to happen. But if Dumbledore is right about everything, then Hermione needs to be careful. This war isn't going to be any child's play."

Both Ron and Harry sighed and stared at the crackling fire in front of them, wondering what was awaiting them in the future.

* * *

**Edited Version: _16th August 2005_**


	12. Acepting Denial

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-LOVES-THINGS-IN-GENERAL!**

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters that appear in J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter. Thank you for your attention. _

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Accepting Denial.

As Hermione left the Great Hall in her travelling cloak, all she could hear were the excited whispers of each boy or girl, waiting in the Entrance Hall for Filch to open the doors. Students had to exit through a special door, as the main doors were boarded up so that the Professors could prepare for the upcoming ball in private. They had even covered the windows of the Great Hall with grand enchanted velvet curtains, so that no student was able to see out.

Filch began to shout for everyone to get in line. Boys and girls from third-year to seventh scrambled to get as close to the door as they could. Hermione was pushed into the middle of the queue. She decided to stay there, instead of pushing her way to the front.

"Why, Hermione! I haven't spoken to you for a while."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder. Callum Flewington smirked, revealing his sparkling white teeth. His hazel eyes lit up and for some unusual reason, Hermione felt a shiver up her spine. She tried to smile. "Yes, it has been a while."

"I heard Ben's been looking for you. Says he wants to make sure that you're going to the ball together. I told him he was silly," said Callum, his eyes twinkling, "Of course you're going together! It would be strange if you didn't. Correct?"

Hermione felt rather awkward and was about to reply when she found herself getting propelled forward by the crowd. The doors were open and everyone was rushing through it at great speed. Before long, Hermione could no longer see the Slytherin boy and she found herself standing outside Hogwarts castle, on a path that led to Hogsmeade Village. There, she bumped into a dishevelled looking Ginny, who immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her along as quickly as she could. At the speed they were going, it didn't take long before they reached Hogsmeade. Hermione tripped and fell over.

"Come on, Hermione! We have to hurry before all the good dresses and dress robes are gone!" Ginny cried. She tugged at Hermione and got her to her feet before taking her hand and pulling her into the nearest shop there. Unfortunately, it was one of the most crowded. However, it didn't take long for Ginny to drag Hermione into another clothes store, as she proclaimed that the dresses were much too normal.

"Oh Ginny, can we not stop for a second? I wasn't made to do so much shopping." Hermione said breathlessly. Ginny sighed but reluctantly let Hermione stop to catch her breath. She pointed to a store down an alleyway. "Why don't we go in there? It's not crowded, like the ones we've been in already, and it looks fairly interesting."

The shop that Hermione was pointing to appeared to be old and _crooked_. In fact, Ginny would have thought it was nothing more than an abandoned house, had there not been a sign on the door that read '_Open'. _The windows were boarded up with wooden planks and the building looked fragile and unsafe. Ginny gave a worried frown, but Hermione was already half way through the door. She gave an exasperated sigh before hurriedly following her friend inside. The site that met her eyes was extraordinary.

Spotlights lit the room, giving it an almost celebrity-like feeling. The walls were made of textured mirrors and the carpet was as red as the most beautiful ruby in the world. The ceiling was a mixture of pictures, each of a different woman modelling different types of clothing. One was wearing a pale blue dress with sandals (like you might on a sunny day); another was wearing a frightful pink suit, while another woman was wearing a rather beautiful lilac tunic. In the centre of the room was a round wooden counter and on top of that, a vase of red flowers and a bell.

The two girls looked around the room in awe. Hermione rung the bell and waited patiently for someone to arrive. They heard a tinkling and a crack, before they saw a thin witch appear in front of them. The witch wore her hair in plaits and wore blood red robes. Her hair was so red that it reminded Hermione of a strong, blazing fire.

"Welcome to _Open_! How may I help you?" The girl smiled happily. She was young, looking no older than nineteen. Ginny and Hermione explained their situation (that they had a ball to go to and no dress or dress robes to wear). The girl introduced herself as Chantelle and she immediately whisked Ginny away to try on some dresses, leaving Hermione with a catalogue.

Hermione flicked through the catalogue. The witches were smiling at her and twirling around in their fabulous dresses. Some were a little too revealing, some seemed a little too tight, and others just didn't seem right. She was glad that Chantelle had taken Ginny in first, for now she had a chance to think of what she could wear. However, it wasn't long before Ginny appeared before her with a sharp crack.

"Your turn now." She winked. In her hand was a plain paper bag with (what Hermione assumed to be) her dress inside. Chantelle appeared beside Ginny a few moments later. She stretched her hand out towards Hermione, who took it. Before she knew what was happening, she heard the cracking noise again and found herself in a white, spotless room with dresses (and dress robes) hanging from every wall.

"We have a lot of choice here," Chantelle smiled, "So feel free to look at whatever you want to, and try it on over there." She pointed to a changing room in the corner. It was also white. "You seemed a little unsure of what you wanted before," Chantelle continued, "Which was why I let you look at the catalogue for a while. I hope it helped!"

Hermione smiled in surprise. "How did you . . .?"

Chantelle sat down on a stool and smiled knowingly. "My mother was a seer. She taught me all she knew about seeing the future and reading the mind. It's quite useful, especially when you want to know what your customers are thinking." She winked. "But let's keep that little secret to ourselves, shall we?" Hermione smiled and put her hand over her heart, as if she didn't dare.

"A magician's secrets should never be told." She said, and Chantelle nodded in agreement. The two set off to try and find the perfect dress for Hermione. They searched every rack and every pile, until Chantelle and Hermione both held a small collection of dresses for Hermione to try. As Hermione went into the changing room and tried each one on, Chantelle waited outside and they made small talk.

"I feel rude saying this . . ." said Chantelle, "But I can't stand a bad aura. You seem distracted, and distraction isn't going to help you pick a good dress."

Hermione stopped changing for a second. "What do you mean?" She asked. Of course, she knew what Chantelle meant and she was right. She was distracted and everytime she looked in the mirror, she wasn't thinking of whether the dress was right for her, but instead, she thought of Draco and Ben.

"Your situation is just like this one, Hermione," said Chantelle, "Have you noticed how I haven't suggested anything? That's because things are always better when you decide for yourself. _It is our choices that make us who we are. _But to make the right choices, we have to face the truth. We have to accept our thoughts and feelings, because denial can't last forever."

Inside the changing room, Hermione paused once again. Accepting denial. She laughed slightly. She had only met Chantelle a few minutes ago and yet she had solved her problems in a few sentences. Hermione knew that inside; she had only answered Ben in a desperate attempt to forget those (more than) friendly feelings she had for that certain blonde.

Hermione was pleasantly surprised at how, once she had realised this, it was much easier to concentrate on choosing a nice dress. It didn't take as long for her to decide which ones was a definite no, and soon, she had tried all the dresses on and chosen the perfect dress. It was the most simple out of all the dresses she had tried, but Hermione was sure that it was the best one for her. It came with a silky dress robe that made her feel warm and ridiculously safe.

After choosing her dress (and paying for it too), Hermione and Ginny thanked Chantelle greatly before leaving the store. They had not realised how much time they had spent inside, for they had only one hour to return to Hogwarts. The red-haired shopkeeper smiled as she watched them leave. She waited patiently until she was sure that they were a good distance away. Taking her travelling cloak and putting her hood up, Chantelle left her shop and used a golden key to lock the door.

"If Dumbledore wasn't my old headmaster, I wouldn't have believed him for a second when he said that two young girls would come into my store. After all, no one ever comes into my store . . ." Chantelle mumbled to herself as she began walking towards the castle of Hogwarts. "Well, I bet he'll be pleased to hear what I read on Hermione's mind . . ."

* * *

It was dinnertime the next day and Hermione prodded miserably at her food with her fork. She wasn't hungry. The ice ball was in less than an hour and already people had abandoned their dinners to prepare. Hermione didn't want to prepare. She wasn't quite sure why she didn't want to go to the ball anymore. It was exciting and she did enjoy skating and dancing too, but she didn't feel up to it. It was possibly the fact that she had to tell Ben soon – maybe even _at _the ball – what she truly thought of him – which wasn't very much at all.

"Erm, Miss Granger, Miss." Something squeaked. Hermione looked away from her cold dinner to a small house-elf beside her - a house-elf known as Dobby. She smiled (much to Dobby's relief).

"Dobby! What are you doing here?"

"The Professors have told Dobby, Miss, to tell Miss Granger, that Miss shall have to start the ball with a dance with the Head Boy."

Hermione's eyes widened. She had to dance her first dance of the ball with Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. His name echoed in her head, over and over again. She felt as though she was going to go insane with it all. Dobby looked up at her with his large elfish eyes. People were beginning to stare, for it wasn't everyday that a house-elf from the kitchens below Hogwarts came into the Great Hall during dinnertime.

"What is it Dobby?" Hermione asked gently, sensing that something was wrong when Dobby did not leave.

"Well, you see Miss, Professor Dumbledore, Sir, has told Dobby to inform the Head Girl _and_ Head Boy of this, Miss, but . . ."

She realised what Dobby was trying to say. He wanted Hermione to go with him to the Slytherin table – to Draco. She thought it silly of herself to not have thought of it sooner. Of course Dobby would be scared of confronting his previous master!

"Don't worry, Dobby." She said in the nicest voice she could manage. "I'll come with you."

Dobby nodded gratefully and thanked Hermione with his heart. As they neared the Slytherin table, Hermione saw the remaining Slytherins send her glares from every direction. She paid no attention to their pettiness and continued to scan the table for the Head Boy. She eventually spotted him, sitting right at the end of the Slytherin table. He was eating extra slowly, almost like he was trying to stay for longer.

"Malfoy."

Draco turned around and frowned at the sight of Hermione. Swallowing his mouthful, he stood and towered over both the Gryffindor and the house-elf.

"Well then, Granger? What's so important that you had to disturb my dinner?" He said.

"It's not me that has something say." Hermione said coldly. "It's Dobby."

Draco laughed cruelly and looked down at the small, almost whimpering, house-elf. "What has that old house-elf got to say to _me_?"

"Don't be so arrogant, Malfoy. He's only here to run an errand." She spoke with fire in her voice, but was gentler once she faced Dobby. "Now, Dobby, why don't you say what we came for?"

Dobby whimpered as he held his ears in fear. "Erm, Sir - Sir - Sir has – Dobby – sent Dobby - important message - for Sir. Professor Dumbledore - says - says Sir must - must start the ball with a dance - with the - the Head Girl - Sir."

"You mean with _her_?"

Draco pointed at Hermione rudely. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes as if she didn't care. "I _am_ the Head Girl, Malfoy, in case you haven't noticed that it's you _and _me who have been doing the night patrols every day."

The Slytherin blonde snorted and sent both Hermione and Dobby a glare, before marching out of the Great Hall. It wasn't until then that Hermione realised just how many people had remained in the Hall and were now gazing (rather quizzically) at her. As quickly as her legs would carry her, Hermione exited the Hall, fully aware that her cheeks were crimson.

* * *

**Edited Version: _17th August 2005_**


	13. The Ice Ball

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-OBSESSED-WITH-FANFICS.**

**Disclaimer: **_Nothing is mine. I own nothing. They mean the same thing. Wow._

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: The Ice Ball.

It was nearing quarter past five and the Hogwarts' students seemed almost over excited. The Entrance Hall was filled with girls, boys, young adults and Professors, all of which could not could wait for the ball to officially begin so that the fun could start – that was, everyone apart from Hermione Granger, who simply couldn't wait for it to start, so that it could end. She was wearing the dress and dress robe that she had bought from _Open_, and had curled her hair for the occasion (thankfully, it was a little less bushy). She sighed. This was going to be a very long night and a certain person behind her just couldn't stop pushing her. Hermione wasn't in the mood to get pushed around. She swerved around angrily to face the certain someone and came face-to-face with Draco Malfoy, who merely smirked at her.

"Why, isn't that cute. Hermione Granger's all dolled up for the ball. I didn't recognise you from behind."

"I could say the same for you, Malfoy." Hermione scowled. "I don't see your date anywhere. Hasn't ditched you has she?" Draco's smirk faded, but he had no time to retaliate. Professor Flitwick ordered everyone to be quiet and pay attention. Students that couldn't skate were to enter the Great Hall and organise themselves intolines. Other students were to wait in the Entrance Hall until the great doors were open. Hermione was grateful of her muggle heritage. She had learnt how to skate from an early age. She glanced behind her to find that Draco hadn't moved.

"Madeleine's in the Hall. Not everyone can skate like us, Granger. Speaking of dates, where's _your_ lover boy then?"

Hermione suddenly realised that she had no idea. Luckily, she was saved from answering, for the doors had swung open and she found herself being pushed forward at such a speed it almost made her dizzy. Everyone gasped.

About fifty feet from the snow-covered ground stood ice statues, carved so brilliantly that it had to have been done by magic. There was Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw, as well as all sorts of magical creatures including house-elves, centaurs, dwarfs, fauns, merpeople, elves and giant dragons too. Nearly the entire Hogwarts' ground had been covered with a thick layer of glistening ice that shone in the misty evening air. Logs had been arranged around the side of the ice – like a barrier, or a bench. Hermione made her way (along with the crowd) to one of the logs to put her skates on. A bell could be heard through the noise of excitement. All eyes gazed at the wondrous icy platform positioned in the middle of the field of ice.

It was Professor Dumbledore, dressed in dark midnight blue robes and a fluorescent yellow hat, with a matching pair of fluorescent yellow skates. All noise vanished as the Professor began to speak. "I would like to welcome you all, to Hogwarts' first ice ball!"

At these words, brilliant sparks of multi-coloured light shot up into the sky like fireworks. The reflection on the ice was almost as beautiful as the true sky. Dumbledore continued. "We apologise for the short notice, but think of it as a pleasant surprise party. Now, I shall not waste any more of your time than I already have. We will start off with a muggle song. Our Head Boy and Head Girl shall start the dance. Now, please, if we would give them both a warm round of applause!"

As Hermione and Draco pushed their way to the front, Hermione could feel dozens of eyes staring at the back of her head. She felt herself redden. As she neared the edge, she began to hesitate – it had been a while since she had last skated and she was frightened that she had forgotten. Draco, however, skated onto the ice with confidence and amazed the crowd with his skill. After all, skating was a muggle sport, and a pure Slytherin was not expected to know anything muggle related. Draco swerved towards Hermione and saw her looking uncertainly at the ice. He stopped beside her and held his hand out. He leaned closer towards her.

"Come now Granger, not scared are we?"

Hermione stared at his hand. He wore a pair of white gloves that seemed almost too inviting for her. She smiled slightly and took his hand, then stepped onto the ice. The moment both her skates were on the ice, the music began, although Hermione had no idea where the music was coming from. The pair made their way to the platform, where Draco placed one of his hands around Hermione's waist and Hermione put her hand on his shoulder.

"Not that hard once you get started, is it?" Draco mumbled as they danced. One by one, couples began to join them on the ice. Some skated around the edge of the ice, while others danced in the middle.

"It's not like I don't know how to skate, Malfoy," said Hermione, "I was just scared that I'd forgotten how to. That's all. Anyway, I thought I'd never see the day when you, a person who so obviously prides himself in being evil and dark, would wear something that was pure white." Indeed, Draco was wearing white. He wore a high-collared white suit, with a matching cape and robe and all in all looked a lot like Prince Charming (from the well known fairy-tale Cinderella).

"Yes, well, I thought it was time for a change. Glad you noticed."

Draco's smirk grew wider as Hermione's blush increased. She looked down at her skates and listened to the music. She had never danced on ice before. It was a most spectacular feeling – almost as though you were flying. She enjoyed twirling around on the ice and dancing with someone who she hated and – dare she say it - _loved _at the same time. But before soon, the music ended and all the couples applauded Hermione and Draco as they left the platform.

"Well, farewell Granger, my date is waiting and I expect yours is too." Draco gave Hermione a nod before skating towards the edge of the ice where a girl sat on one of the logs, waiting. This girl – Hermione knew – was Madeleine Chang.

Madeleine wore pale blue dress robes and a matching dress underneath. Her dark black hair was sleek and shiny in the dim light of the evening. Hermione sat on a log and watched them dance together. There was something about it, about _them_, which made her feel as though Draco wasn't happy, and that he didn't want to be there.

'_Wishful thinking.' _She thought bitterly to herself. '_This is pathetic. I'm Hermione Granger! I shouldn't be thinking such thoughts about _Malfoy._ We're meant to hate one another. It wasn't meant to be like this. And what about Ben?'_ Hermione sighed. That was another problem.

"Ahem." She looked up and gave a guilty smile. Ben was standing in his skates on the clear blue ice, looking almost like a star in his yellow dress robes. He was smiling and holding out a hand to Hermione – offering her a dance that she simply couldn't refuse. Hermione knew that she would probably regret not speaking at the time, but she took his hand and he led her onto the ice. They danced for a while – until the night sky was covered with small shining stars.

All of a sudden, Hermione (along with everyone else) heard a cry. She turned and saw that it was Madeleine.

"What? You can't do that!" Madeleine said furiously. "Especially when I'm still _dancing with you!_"

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Ginny and Luna looking worriedly at one another. Madeleine Chang was not the sort of girl to shout so loudly in any situation. But, as they had noticed, she had changed.

"I can if I want to, _Chang_. This relationship involves the two of us – not just you. And in case you haven't noticed, I wanted to stop dancing quite a while ago." Draco stated calmly. He paused and glanced at Hermione, as if to check that she was watching. She was still holding Ben's hand – almost in mid-dance. Madeleine seemed purely angry, until suddenly, her expressions changed dramatically, and she became tearful.

"But why?" She asked, almost innocently.

Draco smirked and began to skate towards Hermione. He gave her a wink and she could see his eyes twinkling (evilly) in the icy moonlight. He stopped by her side, pushed Ben away from her and took her hand.

"It's simple, Chang," said Draco, his voice as smooth as the ice he was skating on, "You can't help what you feel. I can't control my emotions."

Hermione couldn't speak. She knew it was an act, a desperate attempt – a desperate reason – to break up with Madeleine. She hated it. She hated how Draco could toy with people's emotions like that. She hated how everyone stared at her, as if she was a third-wheel, as if she was some sort of _home-wrecker_. And most of all, she hated herself for not tugging herself away from Draco, as he began to hold her closer.

"Hermione . . ." She could hear Ben from behind her. But she dare not turn around. Hermione could feel Draco laugh coldly, as though he didn't care – which he probably didn't. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but before any words could form a loud cracking noise could be heard. The music stopped and the students turned away from Hermione to face a young witch who had just appeared, by magic, onto the ice.

Her name was Cho Chang.

"Madeleine!" She cried, sniffing. It was common knowledge that Cho Chang was a model (and a very well-paid one at that). It was not often that you would see her looking anything less than beautiful, but today, her appearance seemed slightly strange. Her eyes were red and stood out more than they were supposed to, her mascara was smudged and her hair looked a little bedraggled. She was on the ice, but wore high-heeled boots that reached her knees. Wobbling as she walked, Cho began to make her way slowly to her little sister, who appeared cool and expressionless.

"Madeleine!" Cho shouted once again. "I have something simply awful to tell you!"

Madeleine's face remained expressionless. Her eyes glazed over, as though she could see nothing, and hear no one. Without a word, she began to make her way towards Hogwarts castle, ignoring the shrill cries from her sister. Cho shouted again, but still she got no reply. Madeleine had almost reached the steps of the castle, when Cho burst into tears as she slipped to the icy ground.

"_Don't you even care that your own mother is dead?_" Cho screamed, as if in a last attempt to stop her little sister from walking away. Madeleine froze. One foot was lifted from the ground – ready to take yet another step away from the ice. She turned slowly around, her large blue eyes filled with tears. Hermione could see the make-up smearing as Madeleine wept silent tears. She stood for a moment, before finally squeaking in a barely audible voice.

"How did she die?"

Cho opened her mouth as if to speak, but stopped suddenly and turned to face Dumbledore. Dumbledore's eyes shone like the stars, as he faced Madeleine and said in an unbelievably calm voice, "I think that it would be better if you discussed this in private." He began skating towards Madeleine. "If you two would follow me, I think my office would be the perfect location." The two Chang sisters did as they were told, both crying without a sound.

Everyone watched the three as they walked away, until they could be seen no more. Hermione looked around. No one seemed to be moving. The dancing had stopped, the music was gone, and the happy atmosphere had also vanished. The ice seemed no longer beautiful. As Hermione looked around, she saw that everyone appeared the same – shocked, surprised and speechless. That was, everyone except one certain Slytherin boy.

Callum Flewington.

Hermione could see that he seemed to be holding his anger in – and not succeeding. It was quite obvious to her that he seemed angry, mad, or even furious, but she could not think of a good reason why he should be. His plaster slowly fell onto the ice, revealing a foul cut.

"Miss Lovegood, Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, breaking the silence. "I'd like you both to join Professor Dumbledore and Miss Chang in his office immediately." Ginny and Luna looked at one another in confusion. "Go, now. Both of you!" The two girls did not need to be told again. They hurried towards the castle, whispering hurriedly as they went. Ginny glanced at Hermione and smiled ever so slightly.

"Now," McGonagall began, once she had watched Luna and Ginny disappear into the castle, "I think it is about time that you all returned to your dormitories. I hope you shall all remember that lessons tomorrow shall continue, as normal. It is getting late. Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, your night patrol has been cancelled. Now off to your dormitories, hurry now."

There were groans and grumbles as the students began making their way back to their common rooms. Hermione did the same but decided to fall behind, so as not to get caught in the crowd.

"Hello, Granger. Positively spiffing night, don't you agree?"

Hermione knew at once whom the cool, self-important voice belonged to. She grunted at him. The night was beginning to get cold and the wind was stronger now. She shivered. Hermione's skates disappeared as she entered the school building. They were replaced with warm fluffy slippers. She grunted at them too. Although she did not enjoy feeling moody, or stressed, Hermione didn't like being so close to Draco. It made her feel uncomfortable. It made her feel depressed. It made her feel so many emotions, that it was hard to tell the difference.

"What's with the mood, Granger?"

"I'm not in a mood."

"Don't kid me, I'm not thick. Tell me now."

"If you must know, I'm mad at you." Hermione began to quicken her pace, but there were too many people for her to make a quick escape. Draco easily caught up.

"Mad at me? Why? I haven't even deliberately tried to annoy you yet."

"Oh you haven't, have you? Well, I certainly don't agree. Using me as some sort of excuse to break up with your girlfriend counts as _annoying_, if not more."

"Oh Granger, don't be so childish. You should be flattered that I chose you."

"Flattered? _Flattered? _Don't be so bigheaded, Malfoy." She spat at him, stopping as she argued. "Bugger it, Malfoy. Bugger it all! I honestly thought that you might have been a decent person, but obviously not. I certainly wouldn't have thought that you would have stopped so low as to _use_ someone."

"_Use you? _Oh come now Granger, don't be such a drama-queen. You're exaggerating, surely!"

"No, I am not exaggerating!" She screamed. Draco seemed to be taking it as though it were some sort of joke, which Hermione did not find amusing in the slightest. "I don't know what emotions mean to you, Malfoy, but I know that it isn't nice to mess with people's feelings like that!"

"_Mess with people's feelings?_" Draco laughed. "Whose feelings, exactly, was I messing with? Yours?"

Hermione felt speechless for a second. She couldn't let him know. She simply couldn't. _She mustn't. _"Madeleine's feelings!" She blurted out. "You lied to the girl – you led her on just to stomp her down! What kind of a person would do that?"

"_You_, for a start," said Draco. His voice remained calm, but his appearance was a different matter. He was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. "Don't try to kid me, Granger. It's obvious to anyone who knows you – even a little - that you wouldn't, for a second, like that Ben - perhaps as a friend but definitely nothing more. Now here you are, telling me that I shouldn't toy with people's emotions when you're standing right there, doing it yourself! Don't be such a hypocrite, Granger."

The two were silent for a while, doing nothing more than staring at each other with a horrid flame in their eyes. Draco looked away and said (with the utmost sarcasm), "Whatever. I hope you sleep well tonight, Granger." He began descending the stairs towards the dungeons, leaving Hermione to stare after him.

"Oh, young love," giggled some women in a portrait nearby. Hermione glared at the women and, with all her might, threw one of her fluffy slippers at them.

* * *

**Edited Version: _20th August 2005_**


	14. Salazar's Bride

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-LOVES-GETTING-REVIEWS!**

_Note:_ As there is barely any information on the four founders (and if there is some, I couldn't find it), I am afraid I have had to make up most of it. In this chapter, I have said that the four founders have actually taught at Hogwarts (although this has not officially been said in the books), therefore, they were not only _founders_, but also _Professors_. Please be aware of this.

**Disclaimer: **_Oh yes, I own absolutely everything. _That's _why I'm sitting in a semi-detached house using the slowest Internet connection ever made because that's so obviously more enjoyable than ruling the world. In case you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic. Now get lost or read the story. Thanks! _

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Salazar's Bride

"Ugh," grunted Hermione.

She had been rudely interrupted from her sleep at only five-thirty AM. She yawned, looking around the room to see who had woken her. There were three - Professor McGonagall, Ginny, and Luna.

"We apologise for waking you so early, Miss Granger," whispered McGonagall quietly. Hermione noticed that Parvati and Lavender seemed to be sleeping soundly. "Your lessons for the day have been cancelled. Come, get changed as quickly as you can, we shall wait for you in the common room."

Professor McGonagall pulled Hermione out of her bed and left the room, with Ginny and Luna close on her tail. Although she had no idea what was going on, Hermione quickly began to get dressed. She didn't bother with any fancy muggle clothing, as it was school policy to dress in school uniform all the time - unless told otherwise. Afterwards, she made her way quickly down the steps and found McGonagall, Ginny, and Luna, waiting for her,as well as Harry, Ron, Draco and Snape. She frowned and was about to ask for an explanation, when Snape and McGonagall told them that they would explain later. The task now, was to get to Professor Dumbledore's office, where more people would be waiting for them.

No one spoke as the two Professors led the way down the moving staircase and along the corridors. It seemed to Hermione that everyone was either too tired or too confused to speak. She was both.

It was not long before they reached the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office. McGonagall muttered the password and the gargoyle sprung aside. They ascended the stairs, all competing to get in front of one another. Harry won, following the Professors first. Then came Ginny, then Luna, and then Ron and Draco. Hermione thought it petty and immature of them and decided to fall behind.

The door to the office was open when they arrived. By the door was one hard wooden bench and behind it were three armchairs, one of which was already occupied by Cho Chang. The two Professors sat on the two remaining armchairs, while the six students settled themselves onto the wooden bench.

"I am terribly sorry, all, to have woken you from your slumber," said Dumbledore, peering at them through his spectacles, "And at such early hours too. But this is so very important that I must be sure that every single one of you will hear this. I am aware that not everyone in this room will know about our plan." Hermione frowned. _She_ certainly didn't know about this plan. She looked around and was surprised to find that the only other person who seemed confused was Draco. "But this plan is all we have to help Mr Potter. This plan must not fail, for we shall lose everything if it does. Of course, I am speaking of the plan to defeat Lord Voldemort - to give Mr Potter the strength to defeat Lord Voldemort. And at this moment, I have some news about this plan of ours."

Dumbledore faced Hermione. "Miss Granger, I must apologise to you, especially. It was on my orders that Mr Potter and Mr Weasley have not been on speaking terms with you – but do not fear. For soon, they shall return to you." Hermione glanced at her two former best friends. They were looking directly at Dumbledore, as though waiting for his orders. She did not understand why Dumbledore had told them to do this, but he was a wise old man and she knew that he must have had a very good reason.

"Professor, if you don't mind I'd like it if you could get to the point already." Draco complained, shutting his eyes in annoyance. He looked much more tired than everyone else – almost as though Snape had (literally) dragged him from his bed.

A small smile crept onto Dumbledore's face. "I cannot, and will not tell you the full story. But, Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, I trust that both of you are intelligent enough to figure out this plan of mine sooner or later. However, what this plan is, exactly, is not important at this moment. Voldemort knows of it and he has tried to stop us from succeeding – which I am very happy to say, he has not."

"How did he find out?" Hermione asked - unaware of what this plan had to do with her.

"Voldemort is a very cunning wizard." Dumbledore replied. "He used a spy – a student – to steal the essay that you and Mr Malfoy wrote about the four founders and it became clear to him what our plan was, and what, or rather, who, it involved. Last night, the spy failed his task. It is now clear to both the spy and Voldemort, that we know about their plan to rid ours."

"Professor, shouldn't the spy be caught?" Hermione asked anxiously. "Surely, he's going to get away."

"No, no." The old Headmaster shook his head and smiled. "You do not understand, Miss Granger. The spy has nowhere to run. If he tries to escape, Voldemort shall capture and kill him without a second thought. If he stays within the walls of Hogwarts, he is safe from Voldemort's clutches, but not from ours. But what would you do Miss Granger? Be killed immediately by Lord Voldemort, or wait and beg for mercy from us?"

Hermione sat, silent for a while. Ginny spoke. "Who is this spy, Professor?"

Dumbledore gave a smile that meant he was telling no more. "Wait, and you shall see. Now, last night was a huge success. Miss Chang, you did an excellent job in waking your sister from her trance."

"You mean . . . those things you said . . . about your mother . . . they weren't real . . ." Draco said thoughtfully. Cho smiled.

"You see," Cho began, "I received a letter from Professor Dumbledore, asking me to help him. And when I found out that my little sister was in trouble, I was more than happy to help. The Professor suspected Madeleine to be held under the Imperius – controlled by You-Know-Who – and so, he needed someone close to her to snap her out of it."

"Miss Chang is to stay hidden, to ensure her safety while we finish this plan." Dumbledore added.

Suddenly, there was a small knock on a door that Hermione had previously assumed had led to Dumbledore's personal chambers. It opened slightly, as Madeleine peered around it. It was like Hermione had seen her for the first time. Her hair was ruffled and messy, as though she had only just risen from her bed and her face was pale, with only a few freckles dotted across her nose. She looked _real_.

At the site of the number of people in the room – including Draco – her cheeks began to flush. Dumbledore gave her a reassuring smile. "Good morning, Miss Chang. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, thank you, Professor." She said, giving a polite nod. "I overheard you all talking and I, well, I wondered if I could talk to, erm, Hermione, please?"

Dumbledore nodded and smiled, gladly giving permission for Hermione to join Madeleine. Hermione stood and made her way towards Madeleine. Once she had entered the room, the door behind her closed and the two girls stood awkwardly in front of one another.

"I hope you don't mind but I'm just going to go and get changed. I promise I won't be too long." Madeleine smiled and hurried through another door on the other side of the room. Hermione sat down on one of the armchairs and waited. The room was small – much smaller than the common room, or the dormitories. However, it was just as comfortable. Hermione almost fell asleep in the chair - that was, until she heard a loud, manly scream coming from the other side of the door.

The manly scream had, in fact, come from Draco Malfoy, who in his hurry had almost knocked over the wooden bench with his fellow students still perched on it. He stood, his eyes wide and his mouth open.

Dumbledore smiled knowingly. "I see Mr Malfoy has finally figured out what, or rather, who, this plan of ours involves."

Hermione, on the other hand, did not know of what Dumbledore's plan was truly about, nor did she know that Draco knew. She continued to wait for Madeleine and thought nothing more of the cowardly scream. It was not long before she began to get tired of waiting. It was then that she noticed a painting on the wall by the fireplace – a grand painting that she thought was spectacular at a glance. She got up for a closer inspection.

Hermione could not be sure whether this was a muggle painting or a wizard painting. The woman in the picture didn't move, but was painted so magnificently that she looked as though she could walk out of her framed portrait and straight into the small room. Her eyelids were closed and she had long, dark eyelashes that matched her long dark hair. She wore an elegant dark green robe that fitted her well.

"Interesting combination of colours." Hermione mumbled to herself as she inspected the painting further. The dress underneath the robe was long and graceful, but what astounded her the most were the colours of the dress – green, with a gold and red edge, Slytherin and Gryffindor colours. The woman was sitting calmly in her chair, looking so peaceful that Hermione wished she were in the painting too. Around the woman were bookcases and bookcases filled with at least a thousand books – possibly ones that even Hermione had never read. The painting was simply astounding and for the first time, the Gryffindor realised that this wasn't a muggle painting at all. She could see through a window, the birds were flying – soaring – through the clear blue skies.

"Why, hello there." Hermione jumped. She was so absorbed that she hadn't even noticed the woman open her eyes.

"Oh, hello," said Hermione, feeling almost shy, "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't realise you could talk. I was just admiring your painting. It's simply wonderful! I can't imagine what artist could have painted something so beautiful."

The woman smiled at her, her smile perfect in every way. "Yes dear, it is rather marvellous."

"Do you happen to know who painted it?" Hermione asked eagerly.

The woman's eyes looked down towards the bottom right hand corner of the painting and Hermione's eyes followed. She knelt down to read it.

'_To my darling Amie, _

_I have given you all that I can, and yet I feel like I owe you so much more. I could not think of a gift you would like more than a portrait of yourself and the things that you love, hand painted by me. This way, I will know that you are always safe and shall never forget me. You shall find that if you ever need me, you can move from this portrait to a portrait of me, located somewhere else in Hogwarts. You shall never know how happy you made me that day you became Mrs Amie Helena Slytherin, although you have always said that you were mine the day you fell in love with me. You understand that I will never change my ways, and I cannot believe that you love me for who I am today. For that, I love you for more than anything. _

_Your dear husband, _

_Salazar.' _

Hermione couldn't help but gasp as she finished reading the message scribbled at the bottom of the painting. This beautiful fair maiden in front of her . . . was Slytherin's wife? It was almost impossible to accept as the truth.

"You mean, _you're_ Slytherin's bride?"

The woman (who Hermione now knew to be Amie) laughed – a kind of chuckle that could ease one's nerves. "Why, yes! Is that really so hard to believe?"

"Well, yes – I mean, no! That's not what I meant." Hermione said, feeling her cheeks flush a little. "I read about you when I was researching the four founders. It was a task set to me by the school librarian and she said that I must work together with this simply _terrible, pathetic, idiotic,_ _absolutely self-obsessed_ Slytherin boy." Hermione couldn't help but describe Draco in detail. She couldn't stand him. She couldn't stand how he was so ignorant and how he was so childish. Yet at the same time, she couldn't stand how he was so charming and so unaware of her feelings towards him.

Amie smiled knowingly, as though she knew everything. "Oh I see. How very interesting. Your description somewhat reminds me of Salazar."

"Have you been to see him, in his other portrait I mean?" Hermione asked, pushing her thoughts aside for a moment. "I must admit, I've never actually seen his portrait anywhere in Hogwarts."

"I wouldn't expect you to have seen it," said Amie, "But yes, I have visited it."

"Why would I have not seen it? I've been in this school for almost seven years. I think I would have passed it."

Amie looked down at Hermione who was staring rather indignantly up at her. She laughed heartily. "Of course you wouldn't have seen it. Salazar chose a very secret place for his portrait. Judging by your appearance, attitude and, not to mention, manners, I would say that you're a Gryffindor. His portrait is in Slytherin. Might I add that it is hidden in the boys' dormitory and you certainly don't look much like a boy. The only way to reach his portrait is through the Slytherin dormitories, or through a hidden room that Salazar built. I can't quite remember where it is – Salazar was always _very_ good at building hidden things."

"But wouldn't the Slytherin boys have told someone?" Hermione asked, eager to know more. "I mean it isn't often that you find a portrait of Salazar Slytherin – one that talks, walks and has visitors."

"I'm sure Godric would have loved to meet such a fiery Gryffindor as yourself." Amie smiled graciously. "The passage only appears to Slytherin males if Salazar wishes for them to see. Mostly, he spends his time spying on them, or perhaps listening in to one of their new schemes. I don't think he's ever shown himself to any student, actually." She pondered for a moment.

"But that's only because he doesn't think they're worthy." Amie added, noticing the expression on Hermione's face. "I know what you think, young lady. I've heard all those things that have been said about my Slytherin. That he was vile, foul, that he caused all the arguments between the four founders. Yes, he was short-tempered, he wasn't always righteous, but inside himself, there was a man – a good man."

"I wonder . . . did you like him for what he was? I mean, what he was inside, perhaps?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Almost." She smiled shyly. "He hated muggle-born witches and I am a muggle-born witch. I remember my first meeting with him. The first day I entered Hogwarts, when the school was barely a year old. Of course, he was older than me – I was eleven, and he was at least twenty. He hated me from the time our eyes met on that first day and I won't deny it, I hated him too. That constant look of gloom on his face made me shudder with sadness. But, I don't quite know when it started." She stopped and Hermione could see the redness of her cheeks.

"Do go on." Hermione insisted. The story seemed rather intriguing.

"Well, I was older, when I first noticed him properly. Of course, he was one of the founders of the school, so everyone knew him but I hadn't thought about him that much until I was about fifteen. I noticed that it seemed the founders had had an argument once again. Although Rowena and Helga and Godric always pretended there was nothing wrong and continued with their teachings, Salazar was much less discreet. He would hide away in his room for a while – probably plotting something like building yet _another_ secret room, or hiding a snake somewhere for his successor when he was to die. He always thought about his death. Sometimes it felt as though he was waiting to die . . . waiting for something to kill him . . ." She sighed.

"I noticed that he was hiding in his office again. And so, I decided to visit him. I remember knocking on his door and waiting for him to give me permission to enter – which he never did. So, I simply pushed the door open and entered. He was asleep at his desk and I had never thought that a man of such power as he could sleep so peacefully. Until that day, I wasn't quite sure that he slept at all. And I suppose it was that little bit of pity, that persuaded me to get closer to Salazar, to approach him more and to raise my hand to ask and answer questions in his lessons, to find out all I could about this strange and most extraordinary man. My friends were so shocked. They said that I had a crush on him, which I denied furiously! Imagine that! Amie, a Gryffindor, having a crush on _Salazar Slytherin_?Although, I have to say, my friends were much more disturbed by the age gap thananything else."

Hermione nodded. She could see Amie's eyes sparkle as she spoke. "It wasn't long though, before I realised that my curiosity had grown into something else. I'm not sure when he started suspecting something. But it _was_ quite obvious. I'd hang around after his lessons to ask some pointless question, which I knew the answer to already and I'd stare at him in the Great Hall while he ate. It was after one lesson that he told me to stay behind. I gladly obeyed. He told me that he thought it was wrong of the other three founders to have chosen me to come to Hogwarts and that I was a muggle-born and I didn't belong in the world of magic."

"It's as though he was deliberately trying to hurt you." Hermione said quietly. Amie nodded.

"I told him that it didn't matter to me. I knew I was muggle-born and if I didn't belong then I didn't care. I remember saying that I didn't regret, in the slightest, coming to Hogwarts. And then he looked at me. He sat down behind his desk, and just looked at me."

"'What do you think of me?' He asked me. And I replied, 'I think you are a great man, Sir.' And it was then that I saw him smile. I had never seen Salazar smile before. The feeling that arose in me was . . . beyond words. He asked me, 'What do you think I think of you?'" Amie looked at the floor of her portrait. "But he didn't give me time to answer. 'A muggle-born Gryffindor and nothing more.' He said. I remember feeling my heart breaking. I tried to reassure myself. That it was a silly crush anyway and that I was foolish in even thinking such things about my muggle-hating Professor who wasn't particularly keen on Gryffindors, when I myself was a muggle-born and a definite Gryffindor."

"How did you end up marrying him?" Hermione asked.

"Luck." Amie laughed. "No, it was on the night of my graduation. No matter how hard I tried, I could not stop myself from admiring Salazar Slytherin and feeling such things for him, although I tried to forget them. It was luck on that night of my graduation ball that the Hall was dim. My face was burning when I gathered the courage to ask him to dance. I expected him to refuse; after all, he'd made it clear that he wasn't interested. I don't know. After that dance . . . I guess he felt _it_ too."

"_It_?" Hermione asked. She knew, of course, what 'it' was, but she wondered what Amie might say.

A small smile was playing on the lovely lady's lips. "The L-word. That little four-lettered word that can cause so much trouble. I'm sure that if you haven't felt it already, you will one day."

"After I left Hogwarts, I received a letter from Salazar. I thought that it must be something urgent – why would he write to me? You can imagine the shock I was in when I read it and realised that he wanted to see me again." Amie beamed, her eyes shone like bright stars in the night and her smile was one of pure happiness. Hermione almost envied her. Amie laughed. "Oh I am so rude. I've been ranting all this time and I haven't even asked your name?"

"Hermione Granger. Pleasure to meet you."

"Hermione! What a delightful name." Amie paused. "You remember you told me of a Slytherin boy that you knew? The one that you _loathe_?"

Hermione nodded, although reluctantly. She wished that she didn't know him.

"He sounds interesting." Amie said, giving Hermione a suspicious look. "I'd like to know more about him, like who he is, perhaps."

"His name is Draco Malfoy." Hermione stated, her voice flat and meaningless. "Pureblood, just like the other Slytherins. Not much to say, really."

It was at that moment that Madeleine chose to re-enter the room, this time, looking much more awake. "Good morning, Amie." Madeleine said politely. "I'm sorry for taking so long and if I disturbed anything. You can carry on talking if you like, but I don't suggest you do it for much longer. Professor Dumbledore must be tired of waiting by now."

"Wasn't there something you wanted to speak to me about, Madeline?" Hermione asked. She had almost forgotten that that was why she was there in the first place.

"Well, actually, there wasn't really anything _I _had to speak to you about." Madeleine smiled, glancing at Amie. "Amie asked me to bring you here. After everything's that's happened, I was feeling awful last night. I was exhausted, miserable and afraid of what I had done. And so I told Amie of all I could remember. I told her about Ginny and Luna, and Flewington, and even about you, and Malfoy too."

"Oh." Was all that Hermione seemed to be able to say.

"I would love to know why you detest this boy, Draco Malfoy." Amie smiled mischievously. "I assume he's outside. If he has anything to do with Professor Dumbledore's plans then he must be. Could you possibly call him in, Madeleine?"

Madeleine nodded and opened the door leading to Dumbledore's office. She closed it quietly behind her. Hermione could hear Draco complaining from behind the door, but before long, the door flung open and she saw both Harry and Ron throw the young Slytherin inside the room. They slammed the door shut as Draco stood and grumbled under his breath.

"Bloody Potter and Weasley," he muttered. "Any excuse to get their hands on me."

Draco looked up and noticed the woman in green, gold and red almost immediately. He smirked. "Who's this, Granger?" He bowed to Amie in such a gentleman-like fashion that Hermione couldn't help but snort.

"That's not very polite of you, Granger," said Draco, as he continued to smirk. He eyed the painting with interest. "Not very lady-like at all - unlike this beautiful maiden in this here painting. Chang said you wanted to see me. Spit it out, we don't have all day."

Hermione glared at him and folded her arms across her chest. She glanced at Amie and saw her doing nothing more than smiling – rather gleefully – at both her and Draco. It was as though she were _inspecting_ them.

"I dare say that you two would make a simply delightful couple!" She smiled happily, clapping her hands together with joy as the two students gave one another a look of such hatred that it had to be fake.

"I didn't want you to come in here, Malfoy," said Hermione bitterly, examining her nails, "It was my dear friend here, Amie Slytherin, that wanted to see you."

Draco frowned and coughed a little. "Slytherin? You mean to tell me that the great Salazar Slytherin was related to this woman?" He stopped and looked at the painting once more. After a while, he appeared to smirk with satisfaction. "I should have expected it. I dare say, Miss Slytherin, that you have a grace about you that resembles Salazar Slytherin – although I have never truly met the man."

"Well that's certainly rather odd," said Amie, looking thoughtful, "Considering that I'm muggle-born, and have no relation to him apart from this wedding ring on my finger."

Draco was speechless, his mouth was open and his eyes were wide. "You - you mean - the great Salazar – _Salazar Slytherin_ - married - married _you?_" Although the words were spoken with a hint of loathing,the smile on Amie's face did not even flicker.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy, and don't use that tone with me. It's not only rude but alsopetty and extremely pointless." Amie stood and gave a polite curtsey to the two. "It was a pleasure meeting both of you. You're welcome back any time." Her smile grew. "And I do hope that you come together."

Hermione and Draco spat at one another.

"Now hurry, go! Professor Dumbledore _must_ be getting impatient by now."

* * *

**Edited Version: _27th August 2005_**


	15. More of the Plan

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-GETTING-TOO-HYPER-FOR-HER-OWN-GOOD!**

**Disclaimer: **_Harry Potter and all the characters that appear in Harry Potter are not mine. And yes, I do mean Harry Potter the book, and not the boy._

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: More of the Plan

When Hermione and Draco had gone back into the office, they found the room almost silent. It was as though they were all too preoccupied with their own thoughts and feelings to make futile conversation. The two were greeted with warm smiles, however, and as they took their seats, the talking began once more.

"I'm afraid that before I continue, I must make you all swear to secrecy. Not a word uttered in this room can be repeated outside, do you understand?" Dumbledore's eyes lingered on Draco. He smiled. "I cannot be sure of what I will have to do to any of you if you were to betray my trust. Now if you could all join hands."

Everyone did as they were told. That was, all except Draco.

"Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore spoke, his wand held - ready to cast a spell. "Is there a problem?"

"Look," began Draco, leaning forward, "I don't want to be here. I don't want to be in any part of your plan – especially since they're against the Dark Lord. All you lot should know that when I graduate and leave Hogwarts, I will join him, so why would I want to help the opposition?"

"It's fairly simple, Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore paused and looked deep into Draco's grey eyes. "I know that you don't really want to join Voldemort. You are free, Mr Malfoy, and that, to you, means that no one can tell you what to do, not even Lucius – your father. Since you have come of age, I'm sure you have been fighting to be rid of your father. And if that is not enough of a reason, then think of what you realised while you were sitting in the exact same seat as you are now. If not for anything, do it for _her_."

Hermione had no idea what they were talking about. However, when she turned to look at Draco she saw something most peculiar. She had never seen Draco Malfoy look anything but pale – until now. He appeared to be furious, and his entire face was glowing a mysterious shade of pink. He stuck his nose in the air, but put his hand in Hermione's.

Dumbledore smiled at the defeated Malfoy and began slowly rotating his wand clockwise. The linked hands glowed for a moment. Hermione felt a tingling sensation, and was not sure whether it was the spell, or just the effect of holding Draco's hand.

"Good." Dumbledore smiled in satisfaction. "Now that that is done, I shall begin. As you all know, Miss Chang here was put under the Imperius curse, with another."

Everyone nodded. Ginny interrupted. "What I don't understand is why, Professor? Why would You-Know-Who do that?"

"Simple. He used Miss Chang for the one and only purpose of seducing Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore said in a rather cheerful manner. From the corner of her eye, Hermione could see the redness of Madeleine's cheeks. "It would have worked, had our plan not half succeeded already. But, Voldemort did not know that."

"Why did they choose Madeleine, Professor?" Harry asked quietly, looking thoughtful.

"Chance, Mr Potter." Dumbledore replied simply. "As I was saying, there is another that is under the Imperius curse. I'm afraid that he is in danger. We must reach him by midnight, at the latest, otherwise Lord Voldemort will surely have him killed."

"And this boy is . . ." Luna wondered aloud.

"Can you not guess, Miss Lovegood?" Dumbledore asked gently, the smile fading.

"It's Ben." Madeleine whispered – her voice only _just_ loud enough for everyone to hear. Her eyes began to water. Cho put her arm around her little sister and squeezed her shoulder in a comforting way.

"Now, we must not get Ben confused with his identical twin brother, Alex," said Dumbledore, "One mistake could cost him his life. Miss Chang – Madeleine - will need protection until tonight, when she shall take action. Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, I would be very grateful if you would stay with Cho until tomorrow morning, when she shall be leaving. There are guest rooms for you all and your trunks shall be awaiting you there." Dumbledore paused as the three nodded. "Professors, you are to return to your lessons this afternoon as though this meeting did not occur. Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, I trust you both to stay with Madeleine until the plan is completed, her safety will be assured if she is not alone."

"Now." Dumbledore stopped once more and turned to Hermione, giving her a warm and all-too comforting smile. "Miss Granger, you must stay with Mr Malfoy until the plan is completed. It is not safe to venture alone. You will need totellBen to meet you outside, by the lake, while it is dinnertime. Of course, Miss Granger, you shall not actually meet him. Instead, Miss Chang, Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood shall go in your place, watched by the Professors. After you have made sure that Mr Haven will be there by the lake, I shall meet you in the Head Boy and Girl bathroom – Miss Granger _and _Mr Malfoy."

Hermione stole a glance at Draco and saw him looking away from her, scowling deeply. They nodded and so the plan was set.

* * *

Hermione walked silently alongside Draco as they turned into yet another corridor. They had searched for the blonde Hufflepuff for hours, but still they could not find him. Hermione was sure that they had searched practically the entire castle and so when they reached the owlery – the only room they had not yet looked in – she collapsed onto the floor, apparently exhausted. She expected Draco to call her lazy, or say some other trivial insult. However, she was surprised to find him silent, as he lay down beside her.

"Malfoy are you all right?" Hermione laughed. "You haven't insulted me for a while now."

"Yes, well, I'm not in the mood if that's okay with you, Oh-Mighty-One." Draco said sarcastically.

A breeze blew in from the wide windows of the owlery and the sun shone through onto the stone floor. Owls all around them hooted softly, the sound of their wings rustling slightly. She looked at him. Draco's eyes were closed, his breathing soft and peaceful. Lying next to him felt strange to Hermione – but it was a pleasant sort of strange. Being a few centimetres away from him, she could see his pale complexion, his eyelashes fluttering slightly in the light breeze. She tried to hide her smile. It was a 'crush' – and a one-sided one at that, she was sure. But she couldn't stop her irrational heart hoping that he might return her feelings. If Slytherin had learnt to love, could Malfoy?

Hermione knew all too well that she had spent much time denying her fondness of the Malfoy. But she also knew, as she lay beside him, that she could not deny it any longer. Although she had formed a mental list of everything that was wrong with him, her heart would not budge. It insisted on continuing her fascination with him.

She continued to watch him until Draco slowly opened his eyes, and turned his head to look at her. Hermione could see his eyes, shining with life. She saw his lips curl into a well-known smirk. They parted, as if to speak, but another voice interrupted before he had the chance to utter one word.

"What in the world do you think _you're_ doing with _my_ girlfriend?"

Hermione found herself reluctantly rising, as the boy they had been trying so desperately to find tugged at her arm. Ben Haven stood before them, his appearance almost hysterical. His blonde hair was dirty and even messier than usual, and beneath his eyes were dark bags. He seemed furious and ready to lunge at Draco.

"Well, look who we have here." Draco smirked, standing to join them. Hermione could hardly hear Draco's voice. She was too distracted by what she saw in Ben's blue eyes. She saw how hollow they truly were – how different they were to Draco's. Although she could see the coldness of the Slytherin's grey eyes, she could see the emptiness of Ben's – and in comparison, she much preferred the cold than the empty. It was obvious now that someone else controlled him, that a force so much stronger than he overpowered him. Hermione began to feel pity. The blankness of his eyes could only be seen if you truly wanted to see it.

"Hermione, what are you doing with that scumbag?" Ben asked, apparently angry.

"Oh – it's nothing – nothing at all!" She exclaimed, her face burning although she wasn't sure why. "We were just looking for you, in fact."

Ben looked back and forth between the two. His fists unclenched but his eyebrows remained narrow. "What is it?"

"I need to talk to you." She spoke calmly, taking deep but subtle breaths. "This isn't the time though. Meet me by the lake tonight, while everyone else is eating in the Great Hall. What I have to say is very private. I don't want _anyone _to hear us."

She paused and glanced at Draco, before whispering, "Not even him."

"Tell him to leave then." Ben said. "He's not important. Whatever you have to say to me can be said now."

"We're not allowed to be separated." Draco drawled. "It's a punishment, for arguing again. We're not allowed to be apart for more than five metres until dinnertime."

Ben stood for a moment, as if pondering what to do. Nevertheless, it seemed as though he made his mind up soon enough. He nodded curtly and silently walked away.

Hermione and Draco waited until they were sure he had gone before heading towards the Head Boy and Girl bathroom. They entered and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"He's late," muttered Draco angrily.

"We've only been waiting for forty minutes."

"_Only?_" Draco laughed coldly. "That's more than he's worth."

"SIS! DRACO!"

Hermione was just about to argue with him, but was saved the trouble when two young children came running at them, arms outstretched and sticky fingers at the ready. They seemed more energetic than ever before and Hermione wasted no time in welcoming them.

"Lisa! What a lovely surprise."

The little girl hugged Hermione tightly, smiling widely as she did so. She could not suppress the smile that came to her when she saw Billy holding onto Draco, his eyes clenched and his smile just as wide as his sister's. Draco, however, was nowhere near as happy. He was prising Billy's fingers from his robes and trying his best to hold him at arms' length.

"Billy, why don't you hug your Sis?" Hermione said gently. "Draco isn't used to being hugged in such an affectionate way."

"Okay!" The little boy beamed, immediately bouncing over to Hermione to join his sister. Hermione held them for a while, before they both began whispering. More or less straight away, she knew that whispering was definitely not a good thing.

"Sis?" asked Lisa innocently, "Why don't you give Draco a proper hug?"

Hermione could feel herself blushing. For the first time, she noticed Professor Dumbledore standing in a corner, watching them in the same childish manner. She looked at Draco, who was purely refusing to look at her at all. She knew that deep inside, she wanted to hold him, but was this an appropriate excuse to fulfil her heart's desire?

"Lisa, Billy, I think that's quite enough for now," said Dumbledore, thankfully saving Hermione from making her decision, "Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, it is time for me to take you to a very important place. Chop, chop, you may do as you wish once we get there."

* * *

**Edited Version: _28th August 2005_**


	16. The Black Hole

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-BIG-FAT-AND-HAIRY! HA! JUST KIDDING.**

**Disclaimer: **_Nothing that appears in this piece of fanfiction (apart from a few characters that you have not read about anywhere else) is mine. Do NOT sue. Thank you._

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: The Black Hole.

Without another word, Lisa, Billy, Hermione and Draco followed Dumbledore along the corridors of Hogwarts. It was not long before they arrived outside a door that Hermione had never seemed to notice before. It was old and grey – which blended perfectly into the hard-stone wall. Dumbledore opened it to reveal a staircase that spiralled upwards.

"Now, I'm afraid you shall have to stay here until it is time," said Dumbledore, "Once you ascend these stairs, you shall enter a room where there shall be food, water and enough little comforts to last you a while. Please do not try and make contact with anyone. It is for your own safety."

Dumbledore waited until Hermione and Draco had both nodded and shown that they understood his orders and would not disobey. They quickly said goodbye to Lisa and Billy before climbing up the steps, closing the door behind them. Once closed, the door seemed to simply melt into the wall, as though no longer there. As Dumbledore had said, when they reached the top they found themselves in a medium-sized room.

On a table by a small window, Hermione saw a clay teapot, steam rising from its spout. She saw two teacups beside it and a tray of assorted cakes and biscuits – all muggle brands that Hermione recognised from home. Another table, which had been placed beside two beds (both beds a mixture of scarlet and emerald), was filled with books and parchment and quills, as well as an old dusty oil lamp. Hermione was delighted to see that among the parchment and quills was also the homework that she had yet to finish.

The pair sat in silence, as once again, Hermione found her eyes wandering to Draco. She was starting to believe that she saw in him (perhaps) something that he didn't even see himself – or maybe it was simply her imagination. She knew that she had spent many a night pondering over him and her reasons for admiring him so, and she had found no explanation. But that was it. Deep inside, she knew that she did not need an explanation to like (or to love) someone. She did not need reasons, for loving someone meant loving _them_, for the better, or for the worse.

The feeling she felt was rather like marmite. You either loved it, or hated it.

"Granger!" Draco suddenly shouted, pulling Hermione towards the window. "Look at that!"

Hermione looked. It was not until then that she realised how very high up they were. Far down below her, she saw Madeleine, standing by the lake, fiddling with her hair while Ginny and Luna stood by her side. Ben, meanwhile, was also standing by the lake, and although Hermione was too far up to see the expression on his face, she knew it would not be a pleasant one. She could see Madeleine moving forward, as though about to grab him, but Ben was backing away, shouting words at her that Hermione could somewhat hear. But then, as she thought Madeleine was about to make a grab for him, Ben jumped into the lake and bubbles began to form on the surface.

As the gasp escaped Hermione's lips, she saw Snape, McGonagall, and Professor Hoover rush out from behind the bushes and immediately use their magic to rescue the Hufflepuff boy. Ben's body rose from the lake, horribly wet and soaked to the skin.

"You don't have any feelings towards him at all, do you?"

It was a while, before Hermione realised that she was being spoken to. Slowly, she turned and found Draco seated behind her on one of the two beds in the room. She was not sure if she was able to speak.

"You know," began Draco, noticing that Hermione seemed speechless, "Most girls would probably faint if they saw their own boyfriend jump into that lake. But not you, Granger, you're much too strange."

Hermione struggled for a moment to think of a witty and intelligent comeback. "Yes - well – I – he was under the _Imperius_ curse!"

Draco smirked. "But you didn't know that until today. Surely there would still have been some reaction, had you really felt something for him. Come to think of it, you weren't even that shocked when you found out he was under the Imperius."

"Well –

"Well nothing, Granger! It's clear to everyone that you haven't ever felt anything for the boy! I don't know why you didn't refuse his offer - you can't be that desperate! We're not small children anymore, we shouldn't simply say yes for the sake of it!"

"I don't see why you care so much, Malfoy!" said Hermione angrily, "It's my decision and if that's what I decided then that's that! I admit it was foolish of me, _stupid_, if you must, but it was a mistake. You can't exactly talk, look at you and Madeleine Chang!"

The room fell silent once more. It was a while before Draco spoke.

"I _don't_ care." He muttered, failing to sound casual. It was a downright lie and that secretly brought a smile to Hermione's face.

She decided to take advantage of it. "Yes you do." She sniggered.

Draco was temporarily surprised. "I only ask because I'm curious, Granger. Nothing else."

"But you wouldn't be curious unless you cared."

Hermione could feel a strong sense of hope inside her. Hope, that perhaps Draco did care for her and that he did share her feelings. She longed for him to say something, something more to support her wishful thinking. But he didn't. He sat, looked away and shrugged. She sighed quietly to herself. Once again, the room was noiseless, and so, she decided to lie on her bed for a while.

"Granger, do you know Dumbledore's plan?"

The question had been a spontaneous one. She shrugged. "I know of it."

"But do you know _it?_"

She shook her head. She had thought for a while about the plan but had decided to push it aside for more important matters – like Malfoy. Somehow she could not bring herself to call him Draco.

"Have you not thought about it?" asked Draco, sounding surprised. "_At all?_"

She shook her head again. She thought of it now, and realised how silly it was of her to not have thought of the plan first, to not have placed it before everything else (even her most confusing of feelings).

He snorted. "And I thought you were reasonably clever, Granger. You can't expect me to believe that you haven't spared a moment's thought to it! Seriously, I expected better."

"Well if you're so smart, then tell me! Tell me about this plan of Dumbledore's."

"Figure it out for yourself, Granger," muttered Draco. He seemed unwilling to tell her – although that would have been much easier. "Think about it. Think about why this plan would involve both me _and_ you."

And so she lay, pondering. She could not seem to think of it – of why Draco and her were both so important to the plan. Could it be a coincidence? No, Dumbledore was not the sort for coincidences. But she had no more time for thinking. The two heard footsteps nearing them, heavy and not at all discreet. The door to the room opened, and there stood Ron Weasley, his flame-like red hair as messy as it ever was.

"Hey Hermione," said Ron, giving her a warm smile. "You saw what happened through the window, right?"

Hermione nodded. "Is Ben all right?"

"Fine, fine," replied Ron, now sending a glare to Draco, "Madam Pomfrey's got him, so he'll be all right. Have you two been . . . busy?"

"We've been talking, Weasley." Draco immediately snapped. "That's all."

Ron gave Draco the dirtiest look he could muster. "Fine. I was just wondering. Anyway." He turned to Hermione once more. "Dumbledore sent me to lead you to the Hospital Wing – but he said that we can only go using the short cut in this room. Says we might get distracted if we use the corridors."

The three students looked around the room, as though suddenly expecting a door to appear in front of them. However, after a few minutes of waiting, they knew that something must be done for nothing had happened.

"Ron, how did Dumbledore say we could get to this 'short cut'?" asked Hermione, quietly looking around the room. "It must be some sort of secret passage way that no one's ever found before . . ."

Ron shrugged. "I don't know. You know how Dumbledore is. He never just tells you something, does he?"

Hermione sighed. Dumbledore was wise; he knew so much more than any other man that Hermione knew. She knew that Dumbledore wanted his students to depend on themselves – to think for themselves – which was why he barely ever explained everything in full detail. But they were running out of time and Hermione's mind was beginning to get tired. She had not _stopped_ thinking and she feared that if she did not stop soon, her mind would run out of power somehow.

"I wonder where it could be . . ." mumbled Ron to himself, feelings the walls carefully with his hands.

"Granger." Draco called. He beckoned her towards him, completely ignoring Ron, who was now standing beside him, peering at what he was pointing at with the tip of his wand. Hermione knelt down beside them. Draco's wand was somehow attached to an imprint of a snake on one of the beds. The imprint was moving, ever so slightly, around Draco's wand. It began to hiss, louder and louder, until eyes appeared and they shone a deep crimson, gleaming in the dull light of the oil lamp.

"Passsword?" The snake hissed at them.

"Password, Weasley," said Draco, sounding almost urgent.

"Dumbledore didn't say anything about a password." Ron mumbled.

"What?" Draco yelled angrily, his nostrils flaring. Hermione was certain that he would have stood, had his wand not been trapped by the snake. "How in the world does he expect us to get in when he doesn't even give you the password?"

"Two passswordsss are required," hissed the snake, surprising the trio, "They mussst be ssspoken from the wand-bearer."

"You got to give us a clue, at least!" said Ron, sounding exasperated.

"Four foundersss joined handsss to form Hogwartsss," said the snake, its eyes never loosing their eerie glow, "They vowed never to do one thing . . ."

Hermione suddenly had an idea. "Malfoy, it's _Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus_, the school motto. It's Latin for Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon – one thing that the four founders would have definitely obeyed."

"I'm not even going to bother asking how you know that . . ." Ron muttered as Draco did as Hermione had suggested and the snake announced that it was ready for the second password.

"Sssalazar Ssslytherin, was not a man, unable to love," said the snake. Both Hermione and Draco knew the second password at once.

"Amie Slytherin, Slytherin's Bride." Draco said. His wand seemed to glow – a crimson colour, identical to that of the snake's eyes. There was a cracking noise, as the bed seemed to split in two. Underneath this bed was not floorboards, or any flooring for that matter, but a giant hole, one so dark that it was impossible to see the bottom of it (if it had any).

Ron gulped. "I think Malfoy should go first!"

"Shut up, Weasley," snapped Draco, "Granger can go first."

"No!" Hermione cried indignantly. She had heard of 'ladies first', but now was certainly not the time. She held her wand closer to the hole. "_Lumos_."

The three peered down into the hole, hoping to see something in the darkness – but it was in vain. Draco took a biscuit from the tray by the window and dropped it into the hole. They waited. It was a while before they heard it land (with a plop) at what they hoped was the bottom of the hole.

"At least we know it has an end now," mumbled Draco, sounding anything but optimistic.

"I think, we should all hold hands and jump in this hole together." Hermione suggested. Ron and Draco looked positively disgusted.

"I'm not holding Malfoy's hand! No way!"

"Don't flatter yourself, Weasley. I wouldn't want to hold your hand even if it meant travelling down that hole alone! Holding hands with Weasley would be just _too_ revolting, Granger."

She rolled her eyes. "Well I have two hands. You can both hold mine."

Ron gave another glare in Draco's direction before stepping forward and taking Hermione's hand. She held her other hand out towards Draco, waiting for him to either take it, or say something unpleasant and nasty. She secretly wished for the former, rather than the latter. He stood for a while, before finally taking her hand and facing the hole.

"Remind me to wash my hands later . . ." he muttered. Hermione ignored his comment. She squeezed Ron and Draco's hands, feeling the warmth and general stickiness of Ron's, and the coldness of Draco's.

Holding their breath, she counted to three before they shut their eyes and jumped into the hole, down into the depths of the unknown.

* * *

**Edited Version: _31st August 2005_**


	17. Slytherin and Gryffindor

**FANTASY.**

**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing. I can't really be bothered to elaborate with this or the title. _

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Slytherin and Gryffindor.

They were not sure when it would end. It seemed to Ron, Hermione and Draco that they would be forever falling. Sometimes, it felt as though they were falling faster and sometimes, it was as though they were merely floating down to the bottom. At some points, Hermione almost felt as though she was losing her grip on the two boys' hands, but that only made her clutch them tighter. It was a pleasant surprise to find that not only was Ron squeezing her hand so tightly that she felt as though all blood had gone from it, but Draco was also doing the same.

It was more than a relief, when they finally landed with a thump onto a carpeted floor surrounded by walls of stone. Flames flickered all around them, giving out pools of light in the dark and dingy room. More flames were appearing every few seconds and it seemed as though there was a never-ending supply of firelight.

On the wall facing the trio were two large portraits, both the same size and both so grand that it felt an honour to look upon it. Ron stared in awe and wonder at them, as did Draco and Hermione, but they could not quite make out who it was that had been painted in the portraits.

"I wish there was more light. I can't see a bloody thing in here." Draco complained, looking around the room as if for a light switch. It was as though the room had ears, for only a few seconds after the complaint; a bright light filled the area. Hermione squinted up at it and saw a floating orb of light, right in the centre of the room.

They could see the portraits clearly now, but still, they were not sure of whom the two men were. One of the men smiled (a great, wide smile) and looked down at them with a mischievous and jolly gleam in his eyes. He wore robes of red and gold and seemed so broadly built that he must have been muscular. However, the other man was completely different. He was rather expressionless and wore dull green robes with a slight hint of grey. He seemed bored and yawned, not looking up from the book he was reading.

"Young Gryffindors!" The jolly man cried merrily. "Why, I haven't seen them in a long time! Especially a young lady, might I add?"

Hermione stepped closer towards the portrait, letting go of Ron's hand (and also reluctantly releasing Draco's as well). Ron followed and stood gawping at a gold plate, nailed to the wall underneath the painting.

"_Godric Gryffindor: one of the four founders of Hogwarts. May he forever remain alive in the hearts of those that remember him, and in this portrait._" Hermione read aloud. The two Gryffindors stared at the man stood in front of them. He was truly magnificent.

Gryffindor laughed heartily. "So this is how people react when they see me? I don't look that bad do I? I'm afraid they forgot to paint a mirror in here."

"Oh, no, Sir! You don't look bad at all!" said Ron. He continued to stare, as though he simply _couldn't _believe what he saw.

"Yes, you don't look bad at all! Not bad _at all,_ Mr Gryffindor, Sir!" Hermione nodded in agreement as Gryffindor laughed once more.

"Why thank you! I was just, how'd you say it? Fishing for compliments! Care to tell me your names, young ones?"

"Ronald Weasley, Sir." Ron beamed at the portrait with pride.

"A Weasley?" Gryffindor returned Ron's beam. "It's lovely to meet another Weasley! Haven't met one since the day I died! What about you, my lady?"

Hermione smiled and replied. "Hermione Granger, Sir."

"Muggle-born?" asked Gryffindor, his smile never faltering. She nodded and he grinned all the more. "Wonderful! Simply wonderful!"

Gryffindor laughed once more, before setting his eyes on the other student in front of him. Draco didn't move. He waited for Gryffindor to speak first; he'd make sure he wasn't the one to start a conversation. Gryffindor's smile broadened and became a grin. He turned to the painting beside him.

"One of yours, Salazar!"

For the first time, the portrait beside Godric Gryffindor's moved. The man looked up from his book, closed it calmly and set it on the table beside him. He eyed Draco unenthusiastically.

"Malfoy," said the man. Hermione saw the silver plate beneath this man's painting. It simply read, '_Salazar Slytherin,_' as though there was nothing more to it than that.

"He's a Malfoy." Slytherin repeated. "Draco Lucius Malfoy. Pureblood. Happens to sleep in the boy's dormitory just behind me, in fact. Even if he didn't you can tell he's a Malfoy. Blonde hair, grey eyes, and that smirk . . ."

Draco Malfoy's smirk grew. It was Salazar Slytherin, _the _Salazar Slytherin. Slytherin smirked back at Draco and turned to Gryffindor, as Gryffindor began to speak.

"Malfoy, eh?" said Gryffindor, "I remember them! You're quite right, Salazar, quite right indeed."

Slytherin grunted, his eyes still on Draco. "Amie's met these people before, Godric. Or at least she's met the girl and Draco over here. She told me this kid didn't like mudbloods. Can't blame him. I didn't like them either and I doubt if any Slytherins did."

Gryffindor's smile faded a little. "Don't start this again, Salazar. Muggle-borns with the ability to do magic are a wondrous thing. Don't forget, you married one! You're always so hypocritical, Salazar."

"Amie's different." Slytherin said, not at all interested in anything else that Gryffindor had said. "I forget she comes from that awful muggle family of hers."

"Now, Salazar, if Amie heard you –

"Which, she won't."

"But if she did, you know what would happen." Gryffindor sighed. "And you wouldn't want to lose her now would you. Always so stubborn, Salazar."

Salazar replied with a grunt. "Well I don't like mudbloods – and Amie is an exception. You know how I feel about discussing these things, Godric, especially when there's people around." He paused and looked coldly at the students. "Ask the Malfoy boy. He'll know what I'm talking about."

"Draco Malfoy? How will he know what you're talking about? _I_ barely do, Salazar."

"He'll know what I mean when I say I don't like mudbloods," said Slytherin, looking as though he was getting bored of talking already, "But there's always an exception."

Slytherin's eyes rested on Hermione, who was no longer looking at the two founders, but at Draco. Draco's smirk had faded and was replaced by a look of bewilderment.

"Oh, don't frighten the young ones!" Gryffindor laughed once more. "Now, what brings you here?"

"We were trying to find a way into the Hospital Wing from here," said Hermione, looking around as if it might suddenly appear, "Professor Dumbledore said that there was a secret passageway, but we're not sure if this is the right way - seeing as we've never been here before."

"Well the Hospital Wing certainly isn't behind me." Slytherin muttered. "Before we died, we got to choose what was behind us. All you'll find behind me is the male Slytherin dormitories – Draco, do you remember seeing an empty painting above your bed? That's the other painting I travel to when I want to keep an eye on you."

"My dear lady," said Gryffindor, ignoring Slytherin's comment, "The Hospital Wing is just behind me. I chose it so that I could keep a helpful eye on the sick, although none of the injured has ever been bad enough to need me to encourage them not to give up on life! I hope to see all of you again someday - you know where to find us!"

And with one final hearty grin, Godric Gryffindor's portrait swung open to reveal a long corridor lit by small floating candles. The floor was like a mosaic; there were pictures of phoenixes, mermaids, unicorns and even Cupid (or Eros) too. There were more pictures on the floor, but it was too dark to see any of them properly.

"Thank you, Sir! We'll come back to visit if we can!" Ron and Hermione both exclaimed, as they began to make their way into the dark tunnel behind Gryffindor's portrait. Draco hesitated for a moment, not sure whether he could trust a portrait, but in the end, decided to follow the two Gryffindors. He stopped suddenly, when he heard Slytherin call after him.

Draco stopped and turned around to face Slytherin. Slytherin spoke. "Trust your heart and senses boy. It'll do you and everyone else some good, do you understand?"

He nodded. For the first time since they had met, Slytherin gave a genuine smile. "Good, now catch up with the mudblood girl and the boy. They might have wondered where you'd gone, although I'm sure the Weasley boy wouldn't mind if you were dead. Now, let's not give him the pleasure, shall we?"

Gryffindor glared at Slytherin for his particular choice of words, as the two Slytherins exchanged similar smirks. With a little nod, Draco sped along the dark tunnel, eager to catch up with Hermione and Ron. It wasn't long before he walked into them - examining the wall.

"Oi! Watch it, Malfoy." Ron snapped, almost falling onto one of the lighted candles.

Draco ignored him. "What's so interesting, Granger?"

"You remember that legend we read about?" said Hermione, peering closely at the carvings on the stone wall, "It looks as though there's a picture of it on the wall here, look!"

Squinting hard at the picture etched into the wall, Draco saw what Hermione had been peering at. It seemed quite invisible in the dark; he wondered how Hermione had noticed it with the little light they had.

"_Lumos._" He murmured. His wand tip lit up and he examined the pictures on the wall. She was quite right. The pictures marked onto the walls (like hieroglyphics) were of a boy in Slytherin robes, holding a girl – a girl in Gryffindor robes. You couldn't, however, see their faces, as the artist had cleverly hidden them beneath the hood of their travelling cloaks. There seemed some terrible atmosphere to it – mist surrounded the boy and girl and there were splatters of red on both Slytherin and Gryffindor robes.

"This looks like the legend, but it isn't very happy now, is it?"

"Yes, but look at this, Malfoy!"

Hermione knelt down and Draco did the same. By the light from his wand, he saw the same Slytherin boy and Gryffindor girl, except they were holding hands and under the hood; smiles could be seen although the rest of their face was hidden from view. The skies above them were clear and blue – as any bright sunny day should be.

"I wonder . . ." mumbled Hermione.

"Look, you two," interrupted Ron, "I know this is all very interesting, but we have to get to the Hospital Wing. Don't you think we've wasted enough time? Now let's get out of here!"

Hermione nodded. For once, she knew that Ron was right. They had spent long enough, trying to find the secret passage and speaking to Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. It was time they arrived at the Hospital Wing. She tugged Draco up and the three set off at a quick pace along the dark tunnel once more.

Had they stayed a little longer, they would have noticed a poem written beside the two pictures engraved into the wall.

_Hear the legend of Aphrodite,  
__Love that there was shall be once more,  
__Amongst the Dark Lord Voldemort,  
__Saving the life of the boy who lived,  
__Love shall conquer all._

_Born amongst others,  
__The bond of the bloodlines,  
__The beings of two different worlds,  
__Shall unite and cause harmony,  
__Love shall conquer all._

_If their love is true,  
__If their love is right,  
__If their love is said,  
__If their love shines bright,  
__Love shall conquer all._

* * *

Hermione brushed the cobwebs away from the brass door handle and pushed it open. The spiders fell to the floor, Ron screaming slightly as he watched them crawl through a nearby hole. Draco sniggered at him. A bright light met their eyes as they walked out of the dim tunnel and into the Hospital Wing. Hermione shielded her eyes, as did Draco and Ron. The sudden blast of light took much adjusting to.

"So nice of you to finally join us, Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, Mr Weasley." Snape sneered at them from beside a bed across the room. Professor Hoover and Professor McGonagall stood beside Snape and Professor Dumbledore stood there also. The crowd of Professors around the bed meant that none of the three students could see who lay there.

"Sorry about our lateness, Sir." Hermione said, trying her best to sound cheerful. "We were distracted by some very interesting paintings."

Snape grunted and beckoned them closer towards the bed, which they reluctantly did. Ron went first and stood next to Madeleine. For some strange reason, Hermione feared who would be on the bed, although she could not explain the reason for her fear. She stood still, staring blankly ahead of her.

"Come on, Granger." Draco mumbled. He tugged at Hermione's arm and pulled her across the room to the bed. Hermione felt nothing, as she stared at the person who was sitting stiffly in the bed. Ben smiled up at her - a friendly smile, but an awkward one. It was the first true smile that Hermione had seen from him. For when she had first noticed him, he was already being controlled. She had never known the boy beneath the curse.

"Hi, Hermione? Sorry, I'm not too good with names." Ben continued to smile as he said this. Hermione nodded shyly. She noticed that he was holding hands with Madeleine, who was the only one seated.

Madeleine smiled. "You three have just missed everyone. Cho's gone back to the studio, Alex and Daniel have gone to their lessons and Harry, Ginny and Luna have gone to Amie's room, for their protection. Professor Hagrid is escorting them." Hermione nodded again. She seemed to have lost her voice.

"Albus, I think that we should get on with the purpose of this meeting," said McGonagall calmly, "Severus did point out how much time we've wasted already. I think that it's time we got started."

"Too right you are, Minerva." Dumbledore nodded. "Mr Haven, am I correct in assuming that you passed out first? What do you remember?"

Ben looked up at the ceiling for a moment before he answered. "As you all know, I was with Flewington. It seemed like it was all right, until . . .

- _Flashback_ -

_"Madeleine? What are you doing here?" Ben asked, as he looked around the room inquisitively. It seemed that Callum had taken them to a spare classroom; one that Ben hadn't even known was there. Cobwebs crowded the corners of the room, and dust covered the floor as well as the abandoned desks and chairs._

"_I don't exactly know." Madeleine said, not quite meeting Ben's eyes. "Flewington brought me here. Something important apparently." _

"_Shut up! Both of you!" shouted Callum. He stood by the door, his wand outstretched, his hands as steady as stone. He would have seemed calm, had his eyes not given him away – they were bulging, wide and alert. He tapped his wand against the handle of the door and a click could be heard as it locked. _

"_Why should we, Flewington?" Ben asked indignantly. He was only a little shorter than Callum. "You know, that little brother of yours is always blabbing on about how nice you are, but I don't think you're any different from the rest of the Slytherins! Not from what I know of you, anyway." _

_Callum pointed his wand directly at Ben's heart. "I told you to shut up!" _

"_What are you going to do if I don't?" sneered Ben, "Shoot me down with a little curse of yours?" _

_Callum stood, appearing angry for a second, before letting out a laugh so loud that he reminded Ben of a lunatic - one that needed to be locked up and never seen again. _

"_What's so funny, Flewington?" Ben clutched his wand in his robe pocket. Callum's laughing abruptly stopped. His lips curved into a small smirk. _

"_I'm just laughing at how foolish you are, Haven. You and Chang have no idea what's in stall for you." He reached into his robes, and took out a small, slithering green snake; its eyes were yellow and shiny. Callum put the snake to his ear as it hissed. The Slytherin's smirk widened as Ben's frown deepened. _

"_Flewington . . . you're a . . . Parseltongue?" Ben managed to stammer, as he stumbled back in utter shock. _

_"Yes . . . yes . . ." Callum said gently, nodding as the snake continued to hiss orders into his ear. "Go for the girl first . . . yes . . ."_

_By this time, Ben was convinced that Callum was crazy, and hearing him plan aloud made Ben even surer of this. He glanced beside him and saw Madeleine, who was (needless to say) terrified. Ben stood in front of her and held his wand as tightly as he could. No matter what would happen to him, he had to protect her. _

_Callum dropped the snake to the floor and it slipped away under the door. He sniggered. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A protective boyfriend? Didn't know you had such taste, Haven . . ." _

_Ben didn't speak and neither did Madeleine. Now was not the time to discuss certain feelings and emotions. He gulped. Although Ben was a talented wizard, he was nothing special. He didn't know if he could defeat someone like Callum. _

"_I suppose I'll have to take you down first then, eh, Haven?" Callum said, twirling his wand in his hands. Ben couldn't move. _

"_RUN!" He shouted behind him, before the word Imperio escaped the Slytherins lips._

- _End Flashback_ -

" . . . And that's all I can remember. After that, I just felt as though I was dreaming. All my troubles were floating away and this little voice inside my head kept telling me to do things . . . but I didn't object to anything. I didn't even _think_ of objecting to anything." Ben said, finishing his tale. Dumbledore, by now, was seated quite comfortably on a little stool by the bed. He nodded thoughtfully.

"Miss Chang, I believe you were still quite able at this point? Could you tell us what happened next?"

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore. Erm, well, after Ben got hit with the Imperius Curse, I was in a panicky state . . .

- _Flashback continued_ -

"_Good." Callum smirked all the more. "Step aside, Haven, while I take care of the girl." _

_Ben did as he was told and stood to one side – a dreamy smile fixed on his face. Madeleine could not think of what to do. She needed to escape, so that she could tell someone – a Professor, or a friend – but how? She was trapped in a locked classroom that no one had been in for years and her only companion had been placed under the Imperius Curse. _

"_Now, let's make this short and sweet, shall we?" Callum raised his arm and was just about to cast an Unforgivable Curse, when Madeleine flung her wand from her robe pocket. _

"_Stupefy!" She shouted at the top of her voice. The spell almost hit Callum square in the chest, but he dodged it just in time. He burst into an evil laugh, which gave enough time for Madeleine to summon her broom. _

"_Accio Nimbus!" She cried. Her broom flew towards the classroom window and smashed the glass into little tiny pieces. She mounted it quickly and was just about to fly out of the broken window and into the open air, when she felt something pull her backwards as the evil laughter stopped. She turned, scared of what she might see and to her horror, she found that Callum had his hands on the tail of her broom - and he wasn't going to let go that easily. Madeleine knew there was no time to lose. She quickly jumped off her broom and smacked Callum hard, her long fingernails digging into his cheek. A large, deep cut could be seen, bleeding scarlet droplets onto the neck of his robes. _

"_No matter," said Callum, his voice annoyingly calm, "Madam Pomfrey will fix that in no time." _

"_And what will you say when she questions you about it?" Madeleine asked him hurriedly, as she tried (and failed) yet again, to escape. _

"_Shut up!" Callum bellowed. "There shall be no more talk! Imperio!" _

_And that was the last thing she could remember._

- _End Flashback _-

"Thank you, Miss Chang." Dumbledore said brightly. "Your recount of events has been most helpful. But now, I think it is time that we left Mr Haven alone. After your attempted suicide, I'm sure you need some rest."

"Yes, Professor." Ben said, as he squeezed Madeleine's hand. "Could she stay with me please, Professor? I'd like to talk." Madeleine smiled shyly, as did Ben. Dumbledore nodded cheerfully.

"It is time for us to leave." Dumbledore gave Madeleine and Ben a small smile as he moved towards the door, but only he and the other Professors seemed to be moving. Snape turned to the remaining five students and addressed three of them.

"Come now Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, Mr Weasley. We don't have all day." Snape said with a heavily disappointed sigh. "Mr Weasley, you shall return to Dumbledore's office with Professor McGonagall and Professor Hoover, where you will be reunited with Mr Potter, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegoodand Miss Chang. Mr Malfoy, you are to come with me. I shall explain everything to you once we get into my office. Do not ask any questions until then. And Miss Granger, Professor Dumbledore has some plans for you."

The three nodded, heading their separate ways with their different Professors, each not knowing the dangers that awaited them, or the evil plans of a certain Tom Marvolo Riddle.

* * *

**Edited Version: _1st September 2005_**


	18. In the Astronomy Tower

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-IS-STUPIDLY-DEMENTED.**

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own the characters that you've heard of before reading this fanfic. Thank you! Now why not stay and leave me a nice little review? Please?_

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: In the Astronomy Tower.

Hermione's footsteps echoed along the normally bustling corridors. They almost seemed lifeless as it was quite dark by now and everyone was probably asleep in his or her bed. She followed Professor Dumbledore as he turned another sharp corner. They had been taking so many twists and turns that Hermione had absolutely no idea where they were heading. Thinking about it made her feel awfully dizzy. Looking out of a nearby window, she saw the quidditch pitch, hidden among a large clump of dark trees.

'_Wait a minute . . .'_ Hermione thought. '_There's only one place where you can't see the entire quidditch pitch - we must be heading towards the Astronomy Tower!_'

And (once again) Hermione Granger was correct. As they stopped outside the door that led to the Astronomy Tower and ascended the stairs, Hermione couldn't help but feel like there was something she was missing. It was to do with her and Draco. She simply couldn't figure it out – and she was supposed to be intelligent. Draco had figured it out, so why couldn't she?

"_Lumos._"

Although the room had been illuminated by starlight, Dumbledore's wand made the room seem even brighter. Hermione could now see that the Astronomy Tower had furniture in. A bed, a small wooden rectangular desk and a little gas lamp had been moved in, not to mention a small rug with a strange flowery design on it.

"Now Miss Granger, Professor Snape and Mr Malfoy shall be arriving very soon - Professor McGonagall shall be joining us as well." Dumbledore explained. "Now, while we are alone . . . Do you have any questions that you would like to ask me?"

'_Damn well I do!_' Hermione thought, but she knew that this wasn't the best thing to say. She had so many confusing thoughts in her mind, so many questions to be asked, and yet, she didn't know where to begin.

"I'd like to know, Professor," she said slowly, "More about the plan. I don't understand how it will help Harry defeat Voldemort."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded slowly, pacing the room. "I know that you are well aware of the legend of Salazar Slytherin and his bride, yes? And that is how it can help, Miss Granger, for I predict that this war shall be much greater than even our wildest predictions. Mr Potter needs all the help he can get. You see, Miss Granger, Mr Potter was blessed with his mother's love for him, but after his fourth year, I'm afraid that this love was interfered with. The plan now, is to bring that love back."

Hermione nodded, but she still wasn't quite sure what this had to do with her and Draco. A thought suddenly struck her. '_Perhaps . . . no, they couldn't possibly want Draco and I to 'bring the love back' . . . no, that's simply incorrect. Even if it was our job to 'bring the love back', I – we – we just can't. It would be impossible. Harry's mother is dead. We can't bring her spirit back . . . unless, Lily Potter's love wasn't the love Dumbledore is after?'_ She frowned, puzzled. It didn't make any sense. She jumped when suddenly; there was a knock on the door.

"Hermione! Hermione Granger! Boy, am I glad to see you!" A small boy exclaimed as he stepped into the room nervously. McGonagall followed, closing the door behind her. "Remember me? I'm Conner! Conner Flewington!" Conner stood by the door, anxiously fiddling with his fingers. He smiled uneasily. "If you're here then I can't have done anything wrong, can I? I mean, you _never_ do anything wrong!"

Hermione shrugged with a forced smile. She hadn't a clue what was going on and it was obvious that Conner didn't either.

"Mr Flewington, do not worry, this has hardly anything to do with you," said Dumbledore cheerfully, "If you could please stand by Miss Granger –

The door flung open, sending Conner flying halfway across the room. Snape and Draco entered the room, each holding one arm of a vigorously kicking Callum Flewington.

"Let go of me!" He bellowed, his nostrils flaring and his arms moving in every direction. Draco and Snape pushed him into the room, where he fell on top of his brother.

"Callum?" squeaked Conner, "Why are you here?"

"Shut up Conner." Callum growled, pushing his brother to one side. He was surrounded and he knew that there was no way he could escape. Snape stepped a little closer towards him, taking from his pocket a small glass bottle no larger than the size of an eggcup. The liquid inside it was transparent and Hermione knew in an instant what the liquid was. Snape handed the bottle to Draco, who took it with a smirk.

"Open up wide." Draco said, unscrewing the lid. Callum stepped back and shook his head.

"Make me, Malfoy." Callum muttered. His eyes darted around the room, looking for some sort of door that he could escape through.

"What are you going to do to my brother?" Conner cried. He leapt in front of his elder sibling.

"Oh, nothing." Draco said coolly. He pushed Conner aside easily and stepped even closer towards Callum. "We're just going to ask You-Know-Who's spy a few questions, that's all."

Hermione knew, by now, that Callum was Voldemort's spy. She had had her suspicions - that was why he was so nice to her, being her partner in Transfiguration, setting her up with someone who (supposedly) had a crush on her, spoke to her as an equal although he, like the other Slytherins, thought themselves better. She had given him the benefit of the doubt, but now, she regretted her choice more than ever.

"But, Callum!" cried Conner, "You promised dad! _You promised! _How could you?"

"Easy, I had my fingers crossed when that old man made me promise him something that I just couldn't. The Dark Lord would never have forgiven me." Callum paused and gave Snape a smirk. "And he certainly won't forgive me if I tell insider information to a traitor like you."

"Oh, don't worry, Flewington." Snape returned his smirk. "He won't forgive you anyway for being so careless with his plan."

Snape gave a nod towards Draco, who held the bottle up with one hand and held Callum down using his other. "Veritaserum, Flewington. Strong stuff. Truth potion. You'll have no choice but to tell us everything after we use this on you."

"There's no way in hell that I'm drinking that!" shouted Callum with a look of loathing and disgust.

"Well then . . ." Draco turned to Snape, who whipped out his wand immediately.

"_Stupefy!_" Snape shouted mightily. Callum fell to the floor as Conner let out a terrified cry. Draco forced Callum's mouth open and let three drops of Veritaserum fall onto his tongue. He pointed his wand at his chest and mumbled, "_Enervate_." Callum's eyes opened without delay. This time, however, the look of hate was replaced by one of nothingness. Dumbledore stepped in front of Callum as Draco stepped aside, sidling over to Hermione.

"Let us begin." Dumbledore smiled. "How did Voldemort know of our plan?"

"It was Lucius Malfoy." Callum began in a slow drawl. "When he got sent a letter from his son, Draco, telling him of the strange punishments he had to endure, he started getting suspicious and showed the letter to our Lord. The Dark Lord sent for me to keep an eye on things inside Hogwarts, as he could not do it himself."

"And, why did he choose you?" asked Draco.

"The Dark Lord thought it safer that I do it, as he has not asked me to perform a task for him yet."

"Why was it Madeleine and Ben that were chosen to be controlled by the Imperius Curse and not anyone else?" Hermione asked, her curiosity growing by the second.

"Lucius Malfoy brought the Dark Lord a file containing all the names of the current Hogwarts Students. Our Lord used a simple spell to see who would be best for the job. He wanted two people, a Ravenclaw girl and a Hufflepuff boy who would be weak enough for me to lure them in and use the curse. It is coincidence that Madeleine Chang and Ben Haven got chosen."

"Conner," said Dumbledore, beckoning the petrified boy closer towards his beloved brother, "I would appreciate it if you stay here with your brother, to keep him company after Professor McGonagall finishes questioning him. He may hurt us all, but he would never hurt someone of his own blood." He turned to McGonagall. "Minerva, please do try your hardest to finish questioning him soon and Severus, could you possibly lead Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy to a safer location? I have some business to attend to."

Dumbledore gave them all a half-hearted smile before making a swift exit. Snape beckoned Draco and Hermione to follow him out of the room. They obediently did. The three figures walked quickly along the corridors, their hurried footsteps echoing in the silence. Even at their brisk pace, Hermione could tell that they were heading towards the dungeons. Snape hustled them into a small, dark room and left without a word.

Shelooked around the room. There was only one lamp that was hung on the wall and an old dusty bookshelf with no books. Hermione shivered. She could feel goosebumps rising on her skin as she sat on the dungeon floor, watching a spider spin yet another web in the corner.

"Don't the house-elves clean properly?" Draco wondered aloud, stalking over to Hermione and sitting down beside her. "Looks like we're staying here then, Granger. I wonder how many years worth of dust is in here?"

Hermione didn't reply.

"Granger?" Draco waved his hand in front of her eyes. "I'm talking to you, Granger! The least you can do is reply."

She yawned. "I'm not in the mood for talking, Malfoy." She mumbled, closing her eyes and wavering slightly. "Just let me go to sleep . . ."

Hermione heard no response as she fell onto something soft and human-like. It must have been Draco, but Hermione was too tired to be embarrassed. She felt his warmth and she felt him move slightly as something wrapped itself around her waist. A smile crept across her face. Here, she felt safe and relaxed, as though this was the place where she truly belonged.

* * *

When Hermione awoke, she didn't dare open her eyes. She remembered how she had fallen asleep and she didn't want to wake up to find that it had all been an illusion. Did she dare move – even a little?

"I know you're awake, Granger." She heard Draco mumble. His voice was quiet and gentle – a rather unusual change. "Get up. My legs have gone dead."

Hermione didn't want to get up. She shifted her position slightly, but did not get up. She wondered if Draco would push her off him if she continued to lie on him. She waited and he didn't. Hermione could feel Draco's surprisingly soft hands brush her hair away from her face. He saw her smile.

"I know you're comfortable, Granger." Draco said - sounding amused. "But if you don't get up, I'm afraid I'll have to push you off me. And then you'll be rolling in the dust with the spiders. Now, _get off._"

Sniffing, Hermione reluctantly opened her eyes to the darkness and sat up. As she returned to the position she had been in before she had fallen asleep, Draco fell and deliberately landed himself on her lap. He looked up at her and smirked.

"You had a nice little nap, so now it's my turn." He took her arm and pulled it across his waist as though it were a blanket. Hermione could feel herself flushing as he closed his eyes and rubbed his nose against her robes. She waited for a moment, before gently prodding him.

"Malfoy?"

"What?" He growled, swatting away her prodding hand. He shuffled a little, trying to burrow himself deeper intoher robes.

"You know, Dumbledore's plan?"

Draco grunted with a nod. "You figured it out yet?"

"Not quite . . ." Hermione said. "Dumbledore told me that the plan involved the legend between Salazar Slytherin and his bride – Amie. And then he said that the plan would revive the love that once protected Harry. But, I don't understand it. I mean, okay, the legend meant that love would save us when we are in great danger, and that _that_ love is obviously the love that's going to save Harry from Voldemort's clutches, but what have _we_ got to do with it? We can't bring Lily Potter back from the grave to save her son again. What love can we give to Harry that is possibly strong enough to replace his mother's?"

"That's exactly it, Granger." Draco said. "You're right, we can't bring Potter's mother back from the dead to give him her love again. But Dumbledore's not asking us to do that. Don't you understand? He's asking us to give _our _love to him."

In the darkness, Hermione almost thought she saw Draco's cheeks flush a little. "Give . . . _our_ love?" She squeaked. Draco didn't open his eyes. The legend had been about the greatest love ever to be found, like the brightest star ever to shine in the sky. Dumbledore wanted the love to help Harry . . . and he expected the greatest love to come from _her and Draco. _

"I – that – it – we – no, that just can't be right." Hermione mumbled in vain. She felt her heart beating faster and faster, as she realised just how oblivious she had been. "The plan is ridiculous. Dumbledore's wrong. We hate each other."

No matter how hard she tried to sound confident, her voice was unusually high-pitched. She could feel herself trembling.

"Do you really hate me, Granger?"

Hermione could not bring herself to reply. If she even dared to lie, her uncontrollable voice would give her away immediately. But she didn't dare tell the truth. She didn't dare tell him that she did love him, that she wanted nothing more than to hold him – as she was now – forever. She waited for him to speak once more, but Draco remained silent, his eyes still shut.

It was at that moment that Hermione's heart skipped a beat. She found a cold (yet wonderfully soft) hand slide itself into her own.

Draco squeezed her hand, as he opened his eyes. Neither spoke as they gazed at one another. His grey eyes seemed warmer than they had ever been before.

A rumble shook the room and the two broke their gaze. The room shook more forcefully and Draco immediately stood, pulling Hermione up with him. She held onto him for strength – he stood perfectly still as the room continued to shake. With Draco's hand still in hers, he steered Hermione towards the door and flung it open. The door leading to the Slytherin common room was wide open and students were fleeing from within it. Professor McGonagall's voice could be heard, shouting the exact same sentences over and over again.

"ALL STUDENTS EVACUATE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY THROUGH THE DUNGEON DOORS. HOGWARTS IS UNDER ATTACK."

* * *

**Edited Version: _4th September 2005_**


	19. Horrors of War

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-CAN'T-THINK-OF-ANYTHING-TO-REPLACE-THE-STUPID-ONE-THAT-WAS-HERE-BEFORE.**

**Disclaimer: **_You should understand how very young I am – much too young to have created Harry Potter. However, I probably created anything that you do not recognise in this fanfic. Thanks for your attention and review please! _

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Horrors of War**

"We've got to get out of here." Draco said, holding Hermione's hand even tighter than he had before. They began to run towards the crowd of students that werepushing their way through the dungeon doors as quickly as they could manage. Hermione and Draco were fighting their way through, when suddenly they heard someone call for them from behind.

"Mr Malfoy! Miss Granger! Come with me!"

The pair turned to see Severus Snape rushing towards them, a weird smile plastered on his face. His hair seemed a little longer than usual and his nose slightly less crooked.

"You are to go out of the other doors." Snape said calmly, gesturing for them to follow him as he turned and ascended the stairs that led to the Entrance Hall. Hermione and Draco followed him. She felt something suspicious about Snape, but there was no time to think as they hurried along behind him. Although she didn't know what was happening around her, Draco's hand made her feel as though everything would be all right.

They were in the Entrance Hall now. It was quiet – eerily so. Hermione wondered why they had not exited through the dungeon doors, where she was sure it would be much safer.

"Professor." Draco began. He stopped and pulled Hermione back, so that she stopped as well. "Why have you brought us here?"

Snape turned to face them. He had been about to open the main doors before Draco had interrupted him. A sick smile spread across his face.

"Why, Draco, do you not trust me?" The Professor's eyes gleamed with wickedness, something that Hermione had not seen before. He turned and with one mighty push, the main doors opened. Hermione shivered as a gust of wind met her body, but that was not the only cause. The sight that met her eyes made her shudder all the more.

There were Ministry of Magic officials everywhere - even Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix were battling desperately, as was the other Hogwarts staff (that were not in the Order). Hermione recognised some seventh year students, as well as younger students, who were frantically trying to fight off some approaching Death Eaters.

Hermione looked around, anxiously scanning the battlefield to find Harryand Ron. She could see Ginny, lying unconscious on the grass, while Luna fired a spell at the Death Eater in front of her. Ron was fighting off both Crabbe and Goyle's fathers with some help from Alex Haven and for the first time, Hermione could see that some seventh year Slytherins were _helping _the Death Eaters.

Blaise Zabini and his father were battling Dean and Seamus. Neville was having an intense duel with Pansy Parkinson (and seemed to be winning) and Dumbledore stood by the forest, fighting with Bellatrix Lestrange. Mad-Eye Moody, meanwhile, was duelling with Bellatrix's husband (Rodolphus Lestrange) and Crabbe and Goyle were advancing on Padma Patil, who shot them both down easily. The entire Weasley family were also there. George had just let out a cry of pain and fell to the floor – holding a bloody leg, while Fred had effortlessly dodged a badly aimed spell from Marcus Flint.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief as she finally spotted Harry, duelling with Voldemort himself in the midst of all the other battles. Suddenly, something (or rather, someone) pulled her forcefully away from Draco. She gasped as she felt a cold blade against her throat.

"Let go of her!" Draco cried. His grip on her hand had loosened when he had seen the battlefield. He frowned; realising that the man stood in front of him was most definitely _not _Professor Snape. "_Who are you?" _

"Be patient, Draco." The man said. Ever so slowly, the man's black shoulder-length hair grew longer, less greasy and blonder. His skin paled and his chin grew more pointed, as Draco gasped in horror.

"Father?"

A smirk appeared on Lucius Malfoy's lips - a cruel, hard smirk. "Nice of you to acknowledge that Draco. It doesn't seem like you have lately."

Draco sniffed, edging a little closer towards Lucius and Hermione. "I have always known you as my father."

"Tut, tut, tut, Draco. You really shouldn't lie." Lucius' grip on Hermione tightened. She could barely breathe, as she felt the cold knife press against her skin. She gasped, trying to get more air. Lucius glanced down at her and then back up at his son. "Especially since I have your dear little mudblood here."

Draco eyed the knife in his father's hands. "Don't you _dare_ harm her." His voice was calm, yet had a hint of urgency to it. There was a shriek from outside, as Millicent Bulstrode fell to the floor. Lucius laughed.

"Oh yes, Draco. I'm really scared of what you might do to me if I _dare _to harm her." He spat at Draco. "_Who do you think I am?" _

"Just don't hurt her." He said, his voice not so calm now. "You can do what you like to me, just leave her alone."

"Oh Draco," sighed Lucius in mock disappointment, "I cannot hurt my only son. That would be _so wrong _of me. I only want to teach you a lesson. Teach you a lesson for being naughty, playing with this here mudblood. I want to see you in pain, suffering for what you have done wrong. And I think this will be the best and most fun way of doing it."

Draco didn't respond. His father knew exactly what he was doing. Lucius continued, although a little distracted by the duel between Parvati Patil, Colin Creevey, and Wormtail.

"Oh, don't look so worried, Draco. After I finish with her, I'll find you a nice pureblood to fall in love with, and then we can forget all of this ever happened. The Dark Lord will never know."

Hermione felt the knife move slightly against her skin. She closed her eyes, feeling the tears form beneath her eyelids. Draco didn't know what to do.

"Don't."

"Why not? Oh, it is fun seeing you all worked up, Draco. I spent quite a while thinking of your punishment."

"I have done _nothing_ wrong." Draco said. "You wanted me to be a Death Eater and help the Dark Lord. I will. I'll do everything that he wants me to. _Everything._"

"Nothing wrong you say? Stop acting so innocent, Draco. I know _everything_." Lucius paused. Holding Hermione just as tightly as he had done before, Lucius began to back away from the castle of Hogwarts and onto the battlefield. Draco followed; he wasn't letting his father out of his sight.

"You fell in love with a _mudblood_ – one of dirty blood, my son. _Dirty blood_. Now, we can't have that, can we?" Lucius continued. "Your punishment, Draco, will be to watch this mudblood of yours. Watch her die, painfully slowly, watch her cry in pain, and watch her struggle while no one can help her." He pressed the knife into Hermione's neck. She could feel the blood slowly falling from her, as the tears fell too.

"No . . ." Draco whispered, stepping forward. Lucius took a step back and gave his son a threatening stare.

"Don't come any closer." Lucius snapped. "She's yours, Draco. You see the blood? That's your blood."

"You're mental, father." That was the only explanation that Draco could think of. Lucius' smirk grew wider, as he took the knife from Hermione's neck and held her stiffly against him. She gulped as another tear fell. The knife had only made a small cut on her neck - anything more than that and she would have died instantly.

"Mental now, am I? I guess if I'm mental, then I would do this?" Lucius held up the knife and pierced it through Hermione's stomach. She shrieked in pain as the sharp metal blade went through her. Draco's eyes were wide and he didn't know what to do. The pain he felt as he watched was indescribable.

"Stop it." He managed to stutter. He closed his eyes. He couldn't watch the blood pouring from her. He couldn't bear to see the tears falling from her eyes. He waited for another cry of agony, but it didn't come. Lucius was waiting for Draco to open his eyes. Draco knew that he couldn't keep them shut forever. He opened one eye and found his father smirking cheerfully at him.

"This is only the beginning." He said, as he spun Hermione around and slashed her back. She screamed. It felt as though all her insides were pouring out with the blood that stained her robes. Draco turned away; the sound of her screaming rung in his ears - reminding him of her torture and of her suffering.

"The more you turn away –

Hermione screamed again.

- The closer this knife gets to her heart." There was another piercing scream.

Draco opened his eyes and faced his father. He fell to his knees and begged. "Father, please, let her go. I'll do anything, anything at all. Do you want me to die too? You're welcome to kill me now, just please, let Granger go."

Lucius looked down upon his son and laughed hysterically. It was pitiful, seeing his own son begging him for mercy. He held the knife in one hand and Hermione in the other.

Draco saw his chance.

He leapt up and jumped on top of his father and in Lucius' shock; he let go of both the knife and Hermione. Draco whipped out his wand and pointed it directly at his heart. Lucius froze.

"You know, father, I am glad that you taught me so many dark curses . . . I guess it _will _come in handy after all." Draco smirked.

Lucius – for the first time ever – looked scared. He knew that if he were to be defeated, it would be at the hands of either Lord Voldemort or his very own son, Draco. He gulped. "You wouldn't . . . it's illegal."

"Ha," laughed Draco cruelly, "The Ministry gave all Hogwarts students permission to use all three illegal curses if used in self-defence against a Death Eater or You-Know-Who himself. Now, isn't that convenient?"

"Now, Draco, let's not be irrational, we're all grown ups here aren't we? And I'm your father - you are my blood. I've never hurt you physically before, you know that."

Draco grunted. "But you've hurt me enough emotionally to scar me for life, _father_. I've never wanted to kill you, but you've forced me to do this."

"But Draco, son, I haven't forced you into anything!"

"You _hurt_ her, father. I asked you to stop, I pleaded with you, I begged you, and yet you didn't take my feelings into account but merely carried on with your '_punishment_'. You've hurt me time and time again and I can't have you ruling my life anymore! I may be your son by name, but you and I both know that I'll never be the son that you truly wanted."

"Draco, please, no – don't! I can change. I can . . . accept your love for the _mudblood_, I –

Draco closed his eyes and ignored his father's words as he took a deep breath and muttered two deadly words. With a blinding green light, Lucius Malfoy was gone from the world. Draco stood and turned away from his father's body. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione lying in a pool of blood.

"Granger!"

Although Draco had strong feelings for Hermione, he didn't particularly like to call her that. Everyone called her Hermione. He wanted his own special name for her, like when couples call each other _Honey_ or _Pumpkin_, but instead of any of those gruesome names, he chose something very simple – her last name, _Granger_. In its own weird and wonderful way, it was a sign of his affection for her.

He ran and fell to the floor beside her. Blood seeped out from beneath her school robes, soaking the grass around her. The battles around them raged on, uninterrupted by the body of Hermione. She lay on her belly, unmoving.

"Granger?" Draco whispered, his voice tender, as he rolled her over.

For that one moment in time, he thought that she was dead.

* * *

**Edited Version: 6_th September 2005_**


	20. A Crying Malfoy

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-WHO-ABSOLUTELY-ADORES-WRITING-TRAGIC-SCENES!**

**Disclaimer: **_I own absolutely nothing. Tragic, isn't it?_

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Chapter Twenty: A Crying Malfoy.

'_No, she's not dead. She can't be dead, she wouldn't die with out saying goodbye.'_

Draco didn't know what he could do. He had never been taught how to heal, only how to attack and defend. A scream could be heard from behind him as Ron got hit into a tree with brutal force instead of magic. Draco decided that this wasn't the safest place to try and get Hermione to wake – if she could, that was. Ever so gently, he picked her up and carried her towards the Forbidden Forest. He passed many wizards and witches all duelling furiously, but he paid them no attention.

He stopped just as they entered the Forbidden Forest and placed Hermione carefully down on the grass. He sighed. If only they had bothered to get to know each other before. They had wasted so much time in arguing, in bickering, in generally hating one another and now it was too late.

He didn't care that she was a muggle-born anymore. They were both people, so why bother so much about the simple differences? Draco knew now that he had been foolish when he was younger – despising people for something that they had no control over.

"Granger? Granger, please, just wake up," pleaded Draco, shaking her slightly, "What's everyone going to do if you're not there?"

He closed his eyes, knowing that the tears would be falling soon. He didn't want to cry. Crying was for the weak, or at least, that was what his father had said. Draco shook his head angrily. Now was not the time to think about him. No, he had to focus his thoughts on Hermione. He had to have hope that Hermione was alive - hope always did wonders, miracles, even. He could only hope that the miracle would happen soon enough.

"Potter better win this war." He muttered.

A tear rolled down his cheek and fell onto Hermione.

* * *

Voldemort laughed manically. Harry lay on the floor, clutching his wand tightly. He was exhausted. They had duelled for what seemed like hours and Harry was desperately trying to gain strength. Voldemort was winning – there was no doubt about that. He had tried all the spells that he had been taught, but it was useless. Voldemort would know how to bloke them all and he would never give Harry the chance to utter two words, just _those_ two words that would kill him in an instant. 

He groaned and closed his eyes. He felt as though it was time to give up – but he knew that he mustn't. He needed to have hope, enough hope to get him through this - that was what Dumbledore had said. But that was easier said than done - Harry could barely breathe, let alone stand and face the tyrant.

Voldemort had inflicted many wounds upon Harry, some so serious that if you looked closely enough, you could see part of Harry's muscle. Harry found this painfully horrifying. His breathing grew more ragged by the second and he felt as though he would not be able to hold on to his life for much longer – the only thing keeping him alive was his determination. Harry knew that he _had to _win.

'_Even if I can't win this . . . I'm going to die trying!_' He thought, as he forced himself to turn and look at the still-laughing Lord Voldemort. He tried to stand, but he had only lifted his upper body off the floor before he fell once again. Voldemort threw back his head and laughed all the more.

"The great Harry Potter can't even stand up!" Voldemort roared, as his laughter grew colder and crueller than it had ever done before. Harry pounded the floor with his fist. He turned away from the evil descendant of Slytherin and suddenly gasped. He could see Draco, carrying Hermione's body into the forest. Her body was limp and her robes stained with blood. Harry wanted to help her, to see if she was going to be all right, to find out what happened and to kill whoever had harmed her so.

But he knew that he couldn't help her, for he needed help too. The laughing ceased, as Voldemort strode towards Harry.

"Now, Potter, we'll see if you survive me once again." Voldemort said, his expression like that of a child at an amusement park. Harry felt helpless as he lay on the floor, at the mercy of his greatest enemy. He shut his eyes and let his head fall. He needed to do something to stop Voldemort, but he was weak now – too weak to carry on.

"Oh come now, Potter!" Voldemort cried. "I want to see your face when I say those two wondrous words."

Voldemort laughed again as he threw a spell at Harry, causing him to fly backwards into a tree. Harry could feel the blood escaping from his head. He had hit the trunk of the tree with such force that it made him slightly giddy. He sat against the tree trunk – powerless, as Lord Voldemort let out another shriek of high-pitched laughter.

Harry almost felt like crying, until suddenly, he felt something surge through him. He didn't know what it was; just that it made him feel warm and . . . _fluttery_ inside. It was a wondrous feeling, and it brought a smile to his face. It wasn't long before he recognised the familiar feeling. It was the emotion that he felt everytime he was around Ginny. This extraordinary feeling was _love_.

The pain that the wounds had caused him didn't seem to hurt anymore. In fact, Harry wasn't even sure if they were still there. He felt like he had (not only) the strength to stand and defeat Voldemort single-handedly, but to do anything that he had ever wanted to do – even survive Death itself. This was power like no other.

'_The legend . . . the plan . . . it must have worked after all!'_ Harry thought. It was a miracle, surely – and just in time too. He looked up to find Voldemort with his wand raised, pointing steadily at Harry's famous lightning bolt scar. Harry clenched his jaw and held his wand as firmly as he could – it was either now or never.

"Now Potter, we shall end this, once and for all," said Voldemort, smirking in delight. As his lips parted to form those two simple words of death, Harry saw his final chance.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Harry shouted with all his newfound strength – he was only just quick enough. A jet of dazzling green light shot from the end of his wand and hit Voldemort in the chest – right where the heart was. His eyes were wide with surprise as he fell back onto the ground.

Voldemort was dead.

Harry blinked rapidly, as realisation dawned on him. He had done it. He had defeated the one Dark Lord who had cast a gloomy spell over the entire Wizarding World. Harry stood and pointed his wand to the sky.

"LORD VOLDEMORT IS NO MORE!" He shouted with triumph, as a jet of red light shot into the air.

The battles stopped. The shouting ceased. And the war came to an end.

* * *

Draco didn't dare open his eyes. It was too painful, seeing her lay there in front of him, so lifeless, so . . . _near death_. He shuddered at the thought. 

"I'm sorry, Granger. This is all my fault and I can't do anything to help you."

"Don't . . . be like that. It's . . . not . . . your fault."

Draco opened his eyes at the sound of her voice. It had never sounded more beautiful. He smiled as she squinted up at him. She was alive. There were no words to describe how joyous he felt just to know that she was alive. Hermione's eyes were small - she hardly had the strength to open them at all. Her lips were pale and almost blue, and her breathing was heavy and ragged. A smile appeared on her cold thin lips.

"You should smile more often, Malfoy. You look . . . nicer." Her voice was weak and barely audible. But Draco was just glad that she could speak at all.

He loved the way she said Malfoy. He knew that it was a sign of affection – just like how he called her Granger, instead of Hermione. He didn't care if his name was Draco - he couldn't give a damn what other people called him - all he wanted was for Hermione to call him Malfoy, again and again, until the day when he felt it necessary for her to stop (which he knew would never happen). Draco smiled more and Hermione gave him the best smile she could manage.

"Granger, I thought you were dead. This is almost like a – a miracle."

"That's because it is. Look." Draco looked around them and saw two familiar winged unicorns. Hope and Saviour stood together, watching. Their long faces looked solemn as they gazed intently down at the pair. Draco's smile widened.

"That means you won't die! You'll be all right now! I never gave up, Granger, never. I had hope – always. I hoped that you wouldn't die and Hope answered my call. Now, Saviour's saved you, isn't that right?"

"Listen to me." Hermione whispered feebly. Draco leant in closer towards her so that he could hear her better. "I might not be dead because they saved me, but I might be injured so badly that –

Hermione gasped suddenly. She had spoken too fast and she needed more air. Draco held her in his arms and hugged her lovingly as she tried to speak again – a little slower this time.

- That I won't survive for much longer. I want to take this extra time to say –

"No. You can't think like that. You'll survive. Why would they bring you back to life, just for you to die all over again?" Draco said, desperately trying to make sense of it all.

Hermione smiled weakly. "For me to say goodbye . . . that's why. I – I don't have much time . . . I can't . . . hold on . . . for much long – longer."

"_NO._ You won't die. I won't let you die. If we believe, then you won't die. Granger . . . you can't."

Hermione gasped once more; she needed to say what she wanted to say – before it was too late to say anything at all. "Malfoy, please, just let me speak –

"Fine . . . I'll let you say what you want."

"I want you to tell everyone that I love them all, very much." She said, smiling as she did so. "Tell Ron that I think he's wonderful, and I'm sorry for all those times we've argued. Tell Harry that he really is a great wizard, and that I'll always admire him for how brave and talented he was. Tell them never to forget me - Hermione Granger; Know-It-All, bookworm."

Draco nodded as a tear made its way down his cheek – and then another, and another. He didn't want to cry - not in front of Hermione. She gasped once more, her breathing becoming even more unsettled. She looked up at Draco, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Malfoy?" She asked, her voice but a squeak. "I want to tell you that . . . although those detentions were just set ups . . . that although everything was just one big set up . . . I enjoyed spending time with you, being close to you and having a conversation with you without you saying something nasty . . . I just want to tell you that . . . that . . ."

Hermione gasped again. She seized her chest with one limp hand, praying that she would not go until she told Draco everything that she wanted to. She couldn't stop now, not when she was so close to telling him.

"Granger, don't waste any more of your breath," said Draco, holding her even closer to him, "You need your strength. Please Granger. Please."

"No, Malfoy, I want to tell you –

"Don't speak. It can't be important enough for you to risk all your strength on it. If you don't have your strength then . . . _you'll die._" He whispered the last bit, hoping that she wouldn't - hoping that somehow, she could say what she wanted but yet still have the strength to stand. He knew, however, that that was practically impossible.

"Malfoy, this is more important than anything else that I've said . . ." said Hermione. Draco could feel her shaking in his arms. He wrapped his robes around her, trying to keep her warm. "Malfoy - I – I think I – I think I . . . love you. And I don't care whether you feel the same or not . . ."

Hermione managed a small smile, as did Draco. He felt numb. She loved him, no; she loves him. _She loves him._ He couldn't believe it. He placed his hand gently on her pale cheek and leaned in a little closer.

He whispered in her ear, "I love you too."

And just as Draco closed his eyes and was about to lean in a little bit more, he felt her shaking abruptly stop and her body become suddenly limp as she fell back – unconscious.

* * *

**Edited Version:_ 13th September 2005_**


	21. An End

**FANTASY. WRITTEN BY GIRL-NOT-BOY.**

**Disclaimer: **_ILUVRONWEASLEY owns N.O.T.H.I.N.G. _

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Chapter Twenty-one: An End

It was Christmas day and Christmas spirits were high in Hogwarts. Since the death of Lord Voldemort, the students were back to their old cheerful selves – but there was an exception. A group of students and Professors gathered around a bed in the Hospital Wing, staring hopefully at a certain brown-haired girl that lay there. She was alive, but unconscious – in a coma – and had been ever since the end of the war. This girl was no other than Hermione Granger.

Harry, Ron and Ginny stood on one side of the bed, while Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape stood on the other. Madeleine, Luna, Ben, Alex, and Daniel had left for their dinner, as had Hagrid, Hoover, Sprout and Flitwick. Draco was the only one seated. He held her hand protectively, waiting for her to wake.

The injured had been easily healed with help from Madam Pomfrey and healers from St. Mungos. The only one they had not been able to help was Hermione. Lucius had used what had seemed to be an old muggle knife – but that was not so. The knife was enchanted and caused much more damage than was expected. The healers had said that she would need to heal like any muggle would – without potions, spells or any other form of magic.

"Malfoy, maybe you should get some sleep. You haven't slept in days." Harry said. He watched Draco for a while, but got no response. He continued. "It's not healthy, you know."

"Leave me alone, Potter." Draco said, his voice hoarse. "What if she wakes up and I've gone to take a nap or have a bath or something? I can't risk that. I want to be the first person she sees when she opens her eyes."

"Malfoy," sighed Harry, placing a hand on Draco's shoulder, "You haven't washed for ages, you've got bags under your eyes, you've only been on quick toilet breaks which last less than a minute and you're not even eating properly. You smell awful too. Look at yourself. You're a wreck. Hermione wouldn't want to wake up and see you like this."

Draco didn't move. He looked at Hermione's face – she hadn't moved either, yet she looked just as heavenly as she did before. He smiled to himself, stood, and left the Hospital Wing without another word.

* * *

Draco entered the Hospital Wing a few hours later, covered in little bits of snow to find that everyone had left. In their place was a pile of Christmas presents at the foot of Hermione's bed. Draco had bathed himself thoroughly, before going to Hogsmeade to get his hair properly washed and gelled back by Professionals. He was dressed in some new robes that his mother had bought him a while ago and as he glanced at his own reflection in the window, he smiled rather smugly. This was exactly the way he wanted her to see him.

He walked over to Hermione and sat back on his chair. She had not woken. He held her hand once again and placed it against his heart.

"How are you feeling, Granger?" He asked her, although he knew he would get no reply. "I went into Hogsmeade today. Dumbledore gave me permission."

Draco paused and laughed. "You've really changed me, you know. I passed this kid on my way to get you a Christmas present and I actually felt sorry for him. I _actually _gave him some money. Would you believe that?"

He paused again. "I wish you could say something, Granger. Anything. I wonder if you even know that it's Christmas."

Looking out of the window, Draco saw the snow continue to fall. He, like many others, enjoyed a white Christmas, but without her, Christmas seemed meaningless. He spoke again. "I passed this shop today and I saw something that I thought was perfect for you - so I bought it. I asked them to personalise it though, to make it unique. I know you can't see it right now, but I know you'll wake up and when you do, I think you'll like it."

Draco reached slowly into his pocket.

* * *

"Where am I?" Hermione asked, curiously looking around.

She was floating. Stars surrounded her and they seemed so close to her that she felt as though she could touch them. Her voice sounded distant like an echo. Although she felt safe where she was, Hermione also felt a little lost. She had no idea where she was. Shivering slightly, she longed for someone to hold her and to guide her. Maybe someone like Draco.

Hermione didn't feel like doing anything but hold herself as she floated. She didn't feel the need to eat, sleep or do anything that she usually would have. Whimpering, she laid her head on her knees. There was nothing she could do but wait until something happened.

Before she had found herself afloat in the deep midnight skies, she remembered that Draco had told her that he loved her too. The thought brought a comforting smile to her face. Suddenly, she felt something warm on her back. Careful to shield her eyes from the sudden light, Hermione looked behind her and saw a bright star shining down on her.

The light was strangely welcoming and Hermione felt an urge to run to it. And then, she remembered something.

When she was small, she had always been told tales, tales of people who died and ran towards the light to enter their version of 'heaven'. But Hermione did not want to go to heaven. She didn't want to go anywhere but back to Hogwarts, where she was sure that Draco – and everyone else - would be waiting for her. She was sure now that she had a future (an even brighter one than before) and dying was the last thing on her mind.

"I want to be with the people I love." She whispered quietly to herself.

"Don't worry. I will help you get out of here."

Hermione looked up. Floating steadily in front of her was Godric Gryffindor, a kindly man that she only recognised from a painting. He gave her a warm and friendly smile, which she gladly returned.

"How?" asked Hermione. Although she stood, her feet never touched the ground, for there was no ground in the eternal space they were in.

"I have the power to, Hermione, for you are not dead. You are simply stuck between the world of the living and the world of the dead and you'll float here forever unless I help you. We must prove how much you really want to return to your loved ones."

"But, Sir, how did you get here?"

"Do you not remember that I chose the Hospital Wing behind my portrait? I chose it so that I could help the sick and I have the power to help only one person every century stay alive – by proving that they truly deserve to live. This century, I'm helping you. The young Slytherin – not to mention many of your friends - is unstable without you."

Gryffindor held up a small glass orb. They looked into it, and Hermione couldn't help but smile.

In the orb, they could see Draco. He held a box embroided with Hermione's initials entwined with his in a rose pink heart. Roses were all around the heart's border and the box was made of blue velvet. He opened the box and Hermione gasped. Inside was the most beautiful ringshe had ever seen. It was made of pure white gold and on it was three brilliantly sparkling diamonds.

The diamonds were the perfect size - not too big, but not too small. Someone had delicately carved roses around the ring and Hermione almost thought she saw roses inside the diamonds.

"I hope you like it." Draco smiled as he slipped it onto her finger.

"Malfoy, I love it." Hermione whispered. She didn't care whether he could hear her or not. She replied, just in case.

"I know it's not exactly the biggest diamond ever, but if we ever get as far as marriage, Granger, I'll get you a bigger one – I promise." Draco gave a nervous laugh and kissed her hand gently, closing his eyes as he did so. Hermione wanted nothing more than to tell Draco how much she loved him. She had never felt this strongly about anyone before.

"I want you to know, Granger, that I do want us to be together . . . and if you don't then . . . I'll try not to mind. Just, please, wake up. Wake up and tell me that you don't love me and what you said before was just a lie to try and see if I loved you. Wake up and tell me that the ring is stupid and cheap and you want something more. Wake up and tell me that you'd rather kiss a frog than kiss me. Wake up and tell me off for touching you. Just please, wake up, you can't just leave me here like this . . ."

Draco's eyes filled with tears and he desperately tried to swipe them away. He didn't want the woman he loved to see him crying over her like this again.

Hermione couldn't stand it. He was crying because of her - he doubted the fact that she even loved him at all. She needed to get back and tell him how much she needed him; tell him that she couldn't possibly live without him. She needed to be with him, to live her fairytale life with her Prince Charming – happily ever after.

"Sir." She pleaded with Gryffindor. "Please, I need to go back. Take me back now."

"If you really love him, you'll find your own way back." Gryffindor said apologetically. "I am only here to help you figure it out, and not to tell you."

Hermione watched the orb intently still. Draco was letting the tears flow freely now. He sat there, staring sadly at her while still clutching her hand. She wanted to hold him and tell him that she was okay. She _needed_ to.

Hermione reached out and seized the glass orb. She held it close to her – it was the closest she could be to him if she couldn't get back.

Suddenly, a startling white light filled the quiet blue space.

* * *

Hermione opened her eyes and was met by a giant window. The scene outside was truly spectacular. The snow was falling gently onto the fir trees and she could hear the robins singing merrily on the branches. She turned slowly to her side and saw the one person who she was longing to see.

Draco was speechless. He opened his mouth to shout for someone – anyone – but he found that his voice wasn't working. All he could do was smile and for the first time in weeks, Hermione smiled back.

"Malfoy." She said – her voice barely above a whisper. But Draco could hear her.

"Granger." He whispered back.

They smiled at one another affectionately. All horrible thoughts were swept away as they drew closer. All the insults that had been swapped for the past seven years were forgotten. All differences in bloodlines were simply washed away. They forgot where they were; frankly they didn't care anymore as they closed their eyes and drew closer still.

Their lips pressed against each other in a gentle first kiss that seemed to last forever. In that one moment, Hermione knew that he was The One – her one and only enemy, was clearly the one who she would happily spend the rest of her life with and although she knew her life was pretty much perfect, this was the most perfect part of it all. In that one little moment, she felt, and knew, that she was living in a truly, wonderful, fantasy.

* * *

**Edited Version: _13th September 2005_**

_Ending Author Note:_ It's taken almost two months for me to finally finish editing this! And I suppose I can finally say that I'm (remotely) satisfied with it. I won't say that it's perfect, because nothing ever is, but reading this fanfic again has made me realised how much I've grown as a writer, and as a person. As I did in Chapter One, I'd like to thank again everyone who read or reviewed this! To you guys, I am eternally grateful, and I would only be all too happy to do you guys a favour (as long as it doesn't break any rules, or put anyone in any mortal danger).

Until we meet again!

**ILUVRONWEASLEY**


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